Tales of Vesperia: Azure Grimoire
by Cypher0120
Summary: The concept of parallel worlds is not unknown, though seeing it being brought into play is an interesting sight to behold. When a certain white-haired man is brought into play within Terca Lumireis, how much will the original timeline change with his involvement?
1. Chapter 1

**Phase 0**

* * *

A choking stench filled his lungs, but he couldn't do anything, not even move his limbs. After that, a dazzling light rained down incessantly from beyond. However that was all he could comprehend; the rest was vague and uncertain, as if he was sinking deeper into the middle of a dream.

'Where is this place, who am I, what was I doing? Am I alive, or am I dead? Do I really exist here and now?'

Not really understanding anything, he thought he probably was lying down on top of a grass patch somewhere.

"We found someone!"

Unexpectedly, he could hear someone's voice. He could hear people scrambling about, the clacking of armoured feet approached even closer.

"Are you alright?"

He thought he should say something in reply. However his body had no strength, and his voice couldn't come out.

"Those wounds are serious... take him back to the castle!"

That was his limit. He couldn't hold on to his consciousness anymore.

At the same time, he felt his body lurching suddenly, the world around him finally sank into darkness.

Just before he lost consciousness, the voices appeared to be saying things in a panic, but before long, he couldn't hear anything anymore.

* * *

When he opened his eyes, he saw an elegant, white ceiling made up of marble, and some decorations all around.

"Where is this place?" he wondered.

He was on top of a bed, not too comfortable, but at least better than where he was last time. On top of that lay the white-haired young man, and he scowled suspiciously.

He didn't recognize this scenery.

Moving his green eye he surveyed his surroundings. The bed was neatly tucked in, and he was in a large room. There were hardly any household goods and tools lying around. And his wasn't the only bed laid out here... though he was the only person laying down on one.

As he thought, he really didn't recognize this place.

"What happened to me...?"

His head was still dazed so he couldn't think straight. Just as he was about to get out of the bed, he heard a small sound coming from the open doorway.

"Ah. You've woken up, that's great."

A female voice. To his dazed head, the voice was like a splash of cold water waking him up.

A girl with short, pinkish hair and a slender body entered into the room.

As soon as the girl saw the young man, an expression of delight bloomed upon her face, and she rushed up to him. Casually and lightly, she picked up the young man's arm, and with a finger on his wrist, she easily took his pulse.

"Does it hurt anywhere? Do you feel ok?" she asked.

"No, not especially... I mean, who are you? Also, how did I wind up sleeping here?" he asked.

Not really understanding the situation, the young man looked at the girl. She looked like she was in her late-teens. Her white skin lacked a sun tan of any sort, and she had a refined face. There was a bit of an elegance that radiated from her, reminding him of a princess of sorts.

Wait, when did he ever know a princess in the first place?

It was hard to think that such a person would be here all alone, shouldn't there be more people?

"Ah that's right, I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Estellise." She answered, devoid of any weariness and with a friendly smile on her face.

This place was increasingly looking like a total mismatch for this girl.

"So uhh, what's your name?"

"Ah, I'm..."

It was an easy question, and he was going to answer it, but the young man choked on his words. Name. His name. Somehow it wasn't coming to mind.

It wasn't like he didn't have a name. However in his head everything seemed to be cross wired wrongly, whenever he tried to recall something his felt as though his consciousness was being swallowed by a white haze.

"... Ragna."

Pressing his head with his left hand and frowning deeply, the white-haired young man, Ragna pulled his name out from the chaos within his head.

He tried saying it with his mouth and it didn't feel wrong. Surely this meant that it was his name.

"Mister Ragna. I see..." Estellise said

"Hold it, hold it, just Ragna is fine. If you add the Mister before that, it makes me feel uncomfortable."

"Hmmm, ok then. Nice to meet you, Ragna."

Looking at the wild hair and disturbed expression on Ragna's face, a tiny laugh escaped Estellise.

Ragna made a decidedly bad face in response. After that, he observed Estellise and the large room.

His body was still too heavy and he found it annoying that he couldn't move it.

"Hey, Estellise. I have totally no idea how I got into this situation. I only know I somehow ended up sleeping here, so please tell me the rest of the details."

"Ah, that's true. Well then I'll keep it short." She responded, frankly nodding in agreement, and moved to the edge of the bed to face Ragna directly. Her huge doll-like eyes looked straight at the lost Ragna.

"Ragna, you were found right outside the city of Zaphias, just outside the barrier where the monsters would have gotten you had the knights not noticed you... You had various injuries, and your consciousness was hazy, so they brought you to the castle infirmary room for you to rest in."

"They carried me here?"

"Not really... Ragna, you had hardly any consciousness left but you walked here on your own. Of course, you finally collapsed, and they called me here to help with some Healing artes."

Within the still thick haze of his mind, Ragna could feel faint memories stirring and asserting themselves. However who, and where? Whether those were really his memories... He had no confidence in them.

"Well, I treated your wounds, then I wiped your face and clothes. I had just finished rinsing the towel and came back in, and you had already awakened."

"You said I had wounds right. How come there's absolutely no signs of them?" he asked her.

Ragna inspected his own body. Black clothes and a long red jacket. Various stains and tears were present and had been patched or wiped. However as for his wounds, there were no scars left behind from the treament.

"Well, yeah... I told you I used Healing artes didn't I?" she replied, big pupils looking down at Ragna. Her smiling face had a trace of uncertainty spread on it.

Returning her stare, Ragna's eyes widened slightly. "Wow. So you're a sorceress? However those who are able to use healing magic, well this is my first time seeing one."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Estelle wondered. "They're basic healing artes, nothing major really."

Magic was a skill that had existed a long time ago. However because whether one could use it or not was influenced largely by natural potential, there weren't many people who could use it. However its existence and name was something that everyone was expected to know.

At least, this was the common knowledge present in Ragna's mind. Certainly he had seen someone use it before, but when he tried to recall who did it, it was buried somewhere in the white haze in his mind.

In front of him Estellise stood dumbfounded, and stared at him fixedly.

"Ragna... you're a weird person."

"The hell was that for?"

"No, it's nothing... it just feels like I'm talking to someone who's not familiar here. You're not from one of the Guilds are you?" she asked him.

Ragna twisted his neck. Now that was something hard to believe. But the look on Estellise's face as she said it was serious. "No, not that I know of..."

Were they even talking about the same kind of Guilds?

"Ah... but then there's that." Estellise said, and unexpectedly, within her eyes a look of sadness appeared. Gently moving her small hands, she touched Ragna's right arm. "No matter what I did, I couldn't heal your right arm or right eye..."

"Let me see." Ragna said.

Snapping out of it, for the first time since Estellise had entered the room, Ragna noticed it by himself. Thanks to her healing magic not a trace of his wounds was left on his body.

Except his right arm, and right eye. Although the structure and shape were correct, it was as if nothing had existed inside it and it was unable to move.

Even prodding it with his fingertips yielded no movement, and his eye was completely unable to percieve the light.

"What happened?" Tilting her head slighty, Estellise stole a glance sideways. Ragna personally touched his right arm and removed the glove covering his right hand, the hand that appeared looked as if it was made of solidified shadow; stained jet black. There were claws at the end of it. Stroked gently, the feeling of human skin was present. However there was no sensation whatsoever when it was touched. It was as if a totally different person's arm had been grafted on.

"... I can't remember" Ragna murmured.

"The reason that your arm is now like that?"

"No, not just that."

Ragna sighed. It was about time he finally admitted it. His was well aware that his arm and eye were strange.

"How I came to be here, and also just what exactly I am..."

As he said that his voice sounded more distant, and he had a bad feeling about the rest of his sentence.

"Other than my name, I don't remember anything"

A short pause. It seemed Estellise finally understood what Ragna was saying, however she was actually slowly opening her eyes wide to an impressive width.

Loss of one's memory. It was an easy thing to say, but it wasn't as if Ragna had forgotten everything. For example the world had air, water, and dry land. These things were stuck to the back of his mind, such common knowledge which needed no thinking about he firmly understood.

What he didn't remember was mainly the circumstances concerning his background. He had just barely recalled his name, but he didn't know who was the one who named him. Did he have parents? Or siblings? Where was he born, and where did he grow up? Did he have friends and what were their names?

He knew perfectly well that his memories were in his head somewhere, but he couldn't search for them.

Just before they could continue the conversation, the door to the room opened again.

"Lady Estellise, it's time to let the patient rest. And you do have a meeting with the council in a few minutes." One of the knights said.

"Oh, sorry Ragna, I need to go. If you want, I can introduce you to Flynn later on. I think you two would get along quite well." Estellise said, her nearly perpetual smile still plastered onto her face as she stepped away from the bed, waving her hands as she made her exit, the door closing behind her.

Watching her leave, Ragna leaned back down on the soft bed and tried to think. "What have I gotten myself into?" he asked himself, looking to the left and noticing a sword with a uniquely broad blade propped to the side of his bed. That was his... right? "Well, whatever... I can try figuring out what else is going on later." He muttered, closing his eyes.

Of course, things don't go always as planned. Before the next day was over, he overheard people mentioning something about the Lower Quarter's blastia being stolen.

The heck was a blastia anyways? He'll have to ask Estellise later when she visits before night time.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **

**Just an experiment of mine really. The first chapter is based on the Phase 0 Novel for Blazblue but with Ragna in Tales of Vesperia instead of travelling into the past. And unlike my other fics, he's the only character from BB appearing. This also doesn't take place at the end of the game, but right as Tales of Vesperia begins. Interesting ain't it? **

***cough* Pairings with Ragna are going to be a pain though. *cough***


	2. Chapter 2

**Rebel 1**

**

* * *

**

She didn't visit.

Well, that... was strange. He figured Estellise was one of those people who would probably be visiting her patients or something every once in a while. Even though Ragna didn't really know if she really is a princess, a nurse, a... whatever. He'd thank her for treating his wounds, but he can't stay cooped up in this place any longer. He had to wait until sometime after the middle of the night before he can act without being spotted.

Pushing himself off the bed, Ragna took hold of the sword beside him and strapped it to his side. It was an instinctive action, as if he'd done that so many times already.

He didn't know whether the people here were going to be questioning him or something, but he wasn't the type to just lie down and wait. Ragna took a deep breath, and slowly pushed the door out of the room and moved straight into the hallway.

"That's strange." He murmured, noticing two armoured knights just run past him without even giving him a second glance.

"She snuck out again?" he overheard one of the knights say.

"She?" Ragna wondered. Deciding to see the source of the commotion, Ragna followed the knights as well, the metal on his shoes matching the rhythm of the knights boots.

"Hey! There she is! This way!" the knights continued, entering a rather large room, Ragna hanging back and hiding behind a pillar off to the side and peeked. Estellise was there, holding a sword and surrounded by four knights.

"Please, you have to let me go. I have to warn Flynn!" Estellise pleaded.

This was certainly a problem, and Ragna nearly jumped out of his hiding spot to help Estellise before a sudden blast of... wind seemed to knock out two of the knights.

"Flynn... ? You came to help me?" Estellise said joyously, turning around before a man with long, dark hair stepped out into view.

'Ah so that is Flynn,' Ragna thought, before he was immediately proven wrong by Estellise asking who the guy was. So much for his intuition.

"Identify yourself!" the knights ordered.

As the man walked ahead and faced the two remaining knights, Ragna sprung into action. Quickening himself upon instinct, Ragna didn't bother to grab the sword strapped to his waist. He merely used his left hand to hit the back of the two knights' helmets, causing them to simply collapse.

"Whoa, and who are you?" the dark-haired man asked him, surprised at his sudden appearance.

"Just a guy passing by." Ragna shrugged, pointing to a space behind the dark-haired man.

"Hyah!" Estellise shouted from behind the man, attempting to smash a rather large vase at him. Luckily enough, the man stepped out of the way just in time and the vase crashed to the floor.

"Hey! What, are you trying to kill me?"

"Well... you don't belong in the castle, right?" Estellise asked him.

"No, and I'll take it as a compliment that you can tell that by looking at me." He responded, before turning towards Ragna. "And what's your story? It doesn't look like you belong in this castle either."

"Ragna, why'd you even get out of bed anyways? You should be resting! Just because your wounds are healed doesn't mean you should be wandering around." Estellise complained. "And..."

"Yuri Looowell! Where are yooou!" a voice echoed through one of the halls.

"You foul fugitive! I say, we know you're trying to make your escape."

Those voices were annoyingly loud, even though they should still be quite far away.

"Oh please, not them again." The dark-haired man sighed, "Guess there's no point in going back to the prison cell now."

They ignored the rest of the words spoken out, before the small trio turned to face each other again. Estellise was unusually apprehensive.

"Yuri Lowell?" she asked the dark-haired man. "You're one of Flynn's friends aren't you?"

"Yeah, why?" he replied.

Ragna briefly yawned. Considering the fact that he's not really needed... and he'd prefer not to be scolded by Estellise, he began to move away from the two. He wasn't really interested in listening to the conversation. But...

"Over here!" he heard the sounds of the knights calling out to Yuri, approaching rapidly.

"Listen, I want to hear the whole story, but we can't really afford to stand around and chat. First things first, let's get to Flynn's place." Yuri said. "Want me to lead the way?"

"Ah, yes?" Estellise replied promptly, "But..." she looked at Ragna. "Ragna, do you mind coming with us to Flynn's room? I think it would be better with more than one person with me. Besides, I can watch over you as well."

"Huh? Now why would I..." Ragna started, looking at Estelle's pleading face and now feeling conflicted opinions about what he should be doing. On one hand, he'd rather not get involved in any more of these weird things. On the other hand, where the hell was he supposed to start looking for answers about himself? "Alright, alright... It's not like I can say no to a pretty face anyways."

The sudden compliment caught Estelle off guard, and her face turned red immediately.

"O-Oh... I uhh..." Estelle murmured, before Yuri called out.

"Come on you two. We really don't have time to linger around." Yuri told them, leading the way north of the room.

It wasn't a really long trip, though Ragna became a bit annoyed by Yuri's sudden suggestion to enter the knight's dining room first. Wasn't he the one who said they didn't have time to linger around in the first place?

Well, whatever... at least he didn't take too long sampling the curry in the kitchen before they made their way back up the second floor. Somehow, walking up the stairs was a bit cumbersome, and Ragna nearly tripped even as Yuri and Estellise made the trip up without any problems. "Damned eye..." he mumbled.

The hallway on the second floor looked similar enough to the one on the first floor, but apparently this Flynn guy's room was here somewhere. Following his companions with an unamused expression, they all paused just outside a certain room.

Once the trio entered and looked around, there was no one else there. It was a neat and tidy room, orderly and well, nice.

"He's really keeping this place cleaned up... Flynn must be off gallivanting around somewhere." Yuri said, walking ahead and staring out the window of the room.

"Then... that means I'm too late." Estellise said quietly, watching Ragna from the corner of her eye begin investigating the various items on one of Flynn's dressers.

"So... what sort of wickedness did you two do anyways?" Yuri looked back at Estellise.

"Us? We haven't done anything wrong." She replied.

"And yet a bunch of knights were chasing you around the castle before he showed up as well. Yeah, that makes sense." Yuri continued with some sarcasm in his voice, though Ragna didn't seem too fazed by it.

"Hey I don't even know this place very well, remember?" the white-haired man replied.

Estellise was visibly upset, staring at Yuri intently. "I can't be specific, but Flynn is in terrible danger! I've got to go and warn him." She pleaded.

Yuri gave out a quick sigh, sitting down on the bed and turned his head towards the young noblewoman. "So, go if you want to go. What's wrong with that?" he said.

"She probably doesn't have permission to leave this place." Ragna yawned, leaning back against the wall besides the door.

"Listen, I've got something to take care of right away, too," Yuri said. "As soon as things quiet down outside, I want to get back to the Lower Quarter."

"In that case, would you take me with you? Please?" Estellise walked over to him. "Other than Flynn and Ragna, there's no one I can depend on. Will you at least help me get out of the castle?"

"You can depend on me?" Ragna asked her.

Yuri shook his head. "Then take Ragna with you. He should be able to help, right?"

There was a pause. Estellise stared intently at Yuri, those wide, pleading eyes of hers having the same effect they did on Ragna earlier.

"Okay, I can see you're serious." Yuri sighed. "But why don't you tell me your name first?"

"Oh, right." Estellise nodded her head. She'd forgotten that for now, the only person here who knew her name was Ragna. Before she could say anything else though, she let out a yelp as the door to the room was suddenly kicked down.

Ragna was immediately on the move, moving away from the wall he had been leaning back on and quickly stood in front of Estellise, holding out his sword defensively at the approaching intruder. The man entering the now open doorway had pink hair like Estellise, though definitely wilder and with yellow streaks at the front.

"Prepare to fall victim to my blade," the man said as he approached, drawing out a wicked looking dagger, now held in a reverse grip as he slashed, the vase on the closest table shattering.

Standing up from the bed, Yuri briefly looked at the intruder. "Haven't you ever heard of knocking?" he asked.

"Stay behind me." Ragna told Estellise.

"I am Zagi, the man who will end your life. Now die, Flynn Scifo!" the man called out, jumping straight at Ragna.

It was like a sudden gust of wind. Ragna barely caught his breath, his sword stopping the man's blade, sparks scattering at their collision. In front of him, the fearlessly grinning man laughed, before leaping back as Yuri attempted to make a slash at his side.

"None of us here are Flynn, alright? Now go away." Yuri ordered, looking warily at the man.

Outnumbered three to one, this should make any normal person run away, but the man calling himself Zagi wasn't unnerved. His attention seemed to be focused on Ragna and a laugh of amusement came from his figure, unleashing another attack in quick succession. Just to block that blow, Ragna had to use all his strength.

The sound of ripping cloth can be heard, pain starting to run from the top of Ragna's shoulder from a serious wound Zagi had given.

Barely managing to block the swing of the man's weapons, Ragna's left arm shook with the force of the heavy blow. On top of that, his head was shaking too. He felt dizzy, as if pieces of his memories were trying to tell him something.

The next instant was like a gust of air, Yuri already in front of Ragna and made an upward slashing motion, forcing their opponent to jump back yet again, though a small trail of blood can be seen on Yuri's weapon soon after.

It was a minor cut, but it looked as if the man was ecstatic about what just happened.

"Oh, this is good. I haven't had this much fun in years!" Zagi called out, getting into a fighting stance again. His attention on Ragna had shifted towards Yuri, who was standing protectively over his two companions.

"Ragna, let me help." Estellise looked kneeled down beside him, a magic circle appearing around her as she casted her healing arte. The faint and warm light was glowing again from Estellise's hands, and her fingertips traced the wound, the warm sensation Ragna felt couldn't even be put to words.

"Listen, none of us here are Flynn, so why don't you just back off?" Yuri threatened the intruder.

"Details, details. Bring it! I'm gonna kill you, and carve your name into my blood." Said Zagi.

"This guy's nuts." Yuri murmured, watching Ragna from the corner of his eye get up and stand beside him. "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Said Ragna, readying his weapon again. Before their battle could re-commence, another person appeared at the doorway, wearing a hood and something over his eyes that made it look tinged crimson.

"Zagi, we're leaving. The knights are on to us." The man said urgently.

Almost as if in a fit of rage, Zagi slashed with his weapon at his supposed comrade, who immediately got back up soon after.

"How dare you!"

"Mind your own business! I'm just getting to the best part!" Zagi shouted, laughing at the same time.

"Hurry, before the knights get here. Or would you rather have your fun end today?"

With another hint of annoyance, Zagi immediately slashed at his companion three times, knocking the man down to the ground. Not dead... but he seemed severely wounded. Walking out the door, Zagi took one last look back at Yuri, Ragna, and Estellise before heading out of view, his companion crawling out the doorway as well.

"We should be getting a move on too." Yuri said, leading the way out of the room. "We'll just go 'pay a visit to the goddess,' and be on our way."

"Yuri, um..." Estellise started.

"Yeah, I know. We'll stick together until we're out of the castle." Yuri replied, as if knowing the question Estellise was about to say.

"Oh, right. But I was going to say, my name is Estellise."

"Well then, Estellise..." Yuri said with a smile, before turning towards the white-haired man, "...and...?"

"It's Ragna, just in case you haven't heard it the first time." The man replied, giving a quick shrug.

"Alright Ragna, let's get going then." Yuri said.

"Wait!" Estellise protested, stopping the two from going on ahead. "We can't just leave the door like that." She pointed at the door that was knocked down to the ground.

"No time for that, let's go." Ragna said, taking Estellise's hand and headed out the room.

"B-but..."

"Alright, alright. Just... give me a minute here." Yuri sighed.

A few moments later, the door was propped up and fixed. The trio were ready to leave anytime now. Estellise had to stop at the balcony as they travelled ahead though, and decided to have a change of clothes before continuing on. The commotion on the first floor seemed to have heated up, and they could hear the voices of various knights running about below.

Standing outside Estellise's room, Ragna and Yuri were already engaged in a conversation while they waited. They weren't anything important, but at least it was something to talk about. Yuri learned that Ragna didn't really remember much about anything, while Ragna learned that Yuri was someone from the Lower Quarter who wasn't exactly on good terms with the Empire. Strangely enough, Ragna can actually relate to his situation. He neglected to mention how he got into the castle though, that would be for Estellise to tell him later.

The door opened, and Estellise came out of her room in a white dress with pink and gold decorations that made her look like some kind of human flower. Feeling their eyes looking at her, Estellise immediately responded, "What...? Do... Do I look strange?"

"It's nothing." Yuri replied. "I was just thinking this doesn't suit you either."

"So... what would be something that would suit her?" asked Ragna, grinning quietly to himself.

"I dunno. What do you think?" Yuri said, turning the question back towards Ragna.

"Something that doesn't look like a flower," he shrugged, "I really doubt that's still going to fool anyone if we're sneaking out."

"Really?" Estellise wondered looking down at her dress before sighing, approaching the two, and extended out both her hands.

"What's this?" Yuri asked.

"A handshake. It means, 'nice to meet both of you.'" She nodded.

"I thought you already knew Ragna?" Yuri asked, as both of them shook her hands.

"Yeah. Barely even a day." Ragna continued on before letting go.

The trio chuckled a little before finally deciding to follow Yuri's suggestion of looking for the 'statue of the goddess.' It took a while before they found the room with the strange statue, Yuri having to pull it out of the way before seeing a hidden passageway that lead down.

"What do we have here? Looks like the old man was right..." Yuri grinned.

"Do you think this will lead outside?" Estellise asked.

"I can't guarantee it." Said Yuri, walking over to the edge of the exit and peered below. "Well, I'm going down. How about you two?" he looked at Estellise and Ragna.

"It's not like I have much of a choice." Ragna said, peering down the hole as well.

"... I'm coming too." Estellise blurted out with a bit of hesitation in the beginning.

"That's quite brave of you." Said Yuri, before closing his eyes as if deep in thought, "Who was that guy, anyway? There was something shady about him..." Yuri wondered.

"What guy?" Ragna asked.

"Just a guy who told me the information about this statue." He shrugged, walking over to the ladder that lead below, at least until Estellise took hold of his hand. "What is it? Did you change your mind?" he asked her.

"No, your hand... it's injured. Let me take a look at it." Estellise said, casting her healing arte again.

"Hmm?" Yuri wondered, before taking hold of her hand as well.

"Aah!" Estellise yelped, pulling her hand away.

"Hey, I'm sorry... I'd never seen a blastia like that. I-I wasn't thinking." Yuri explained.

"That's really all it was?" Estellise asked suspiciously.

"That's really all it was." Yuri affirmed. "My hand feels better... Thanks."

"Bet it wasn't." Ragna called out, before climbing down the ladder. "Come on you two. I'd be more worried if any of the guards get here by accident."

"Oh, right!" Estellise called out, climbing down after him.

"Those two at least seem to work well together." Yuri told himself, before making his way down as well. The only worry he had would be the statue above them. Unless it moved back by itself, then the knights would figure out this secret passageway.

Finally reaching the bottom of the ladder, Ragna took a look around, frowning slightly upon seeing where they actually are. "The Castle Sewers?" he wondered. Helping Estellise down from the ladder, Ragna then heard a noise of something moving above them, the statue moving back into its original position.

"That takes care of one problem." Said Yuri, dropping down behind the two and looked around as well. He noticed movement, and soon enough, he noticed multiple rat-like creatures begin to approach them from the side. "So there are monsters down here too..." he sighed.

"Monsters... That's what these things are?" Estellise wondered.

"They don't look like much really." Said Ragna.

"You two haven't seen one before?" Yuri asked.

"Not ones that look like fluffy... things..." Ragna shrugged, noticing that Estellise had kind of, fallen silent.

Yuri sighed again, readying his sword. "Well, either way, let's hurry up and take care of this, shall we?"

Almost immediately as he said that, another group of the same creatures began to approach just ahead of them.

"They're coming from the front too." Estellise pointed out.

"Ugh, this is annoying..." Yuri said, "Hey Ragna, how fast do you think you can eliminate them?" he asked.

"Wanna make it a competition then?" Ragna said, a grin on his face.

"You're on." Came the response.

"Wait...!" Estellise started, before the pair immediately raised their weapons and charged. Watching from the sidelines, she can at least observe the fighting style of the pair properly now. Both Yuri and Ragna didn't seem to be using their own self-improvised styles of fighting. Yuri's own techniques were at least reminiscent of the knights with some diversions... but Ragna... somehow Ragna's style was something that fascinated even her. For him to be able to fight with one hand and swing his weapon like it weighed next to nothing is, quite impressive. Perhaps it was the composition of his weapon itself?

By the time Estellise snapped out of her observations and ready to help the two fight, both Yuri and Ragna already got rid of the monsters in the general vicinity.

"I got twenty-three." Said Ragna.

"Twenty." Yuri replied. "You're pretty good with only one arm and eye." He grinned.

"Taking out rats don't really show much skill." Ragna continued, strapping his weapon back to a spot by his waist. "Now if we were to test our technique against each other, well... that would be different. With me handicapped though, literally, I'd rather not."

"Now why would we do something like that?" Yuri wondered, before the two of them looked back towards Estellise. "Err... anyways..." he paused, "We should probably get going."

"Hmph!" Estellise pouted, feeling a little left out by now. Then again, that is to be expected of two boys with similar interests. Or at least, that's what it looked like. "You two are mean." She murmured.

Navigating the castle sewer wasn't really that hard. Apparently they were just in a small section of the entire thing, and there was another ladder that lead up a fair distance away. The monsters hear learned quickly enough to avoid the trio, so there weren't many problems there.

Estellise went up the ladder first, then Yuri, and finally Ragna.

For the last person to get up, the glare of the sun and the smell of the air was a surprising experience. This wasn't what Ragna was used to, and already he felt as if something was wrong. He had noticed it a little while inside the castle, but the fact that it was so easy to breathe outside was much more strange. In the back of his mind, something was telling him that this wasn't normal.

"Man it's bright." Yuri said, interrupting Ragna's chain of thought. He sighed, "It's already morning. I wasted an entire night."

"Everything looks so different from the windows of the castle." Estellise said, looking around like a curious girl who hadn't stepped out of her house for the first time in years.

"It feels kind of different too." Said Ragna.

"Ah, come on. You two sound like this is your first time out of the castle." Yuri said.

"...Ah, well, I..." Estellise murmured.

"I don't know about her, but even if I've been out of a castle before, this place still feels strange. Not that there's anything wrong with it, but I still think something's missing." Said Ragna.

"Guess a lady who lives in a castle can't just take a walk outside whenever she wants." Yuri sighed, looking at Estellise.

"Y-yes, you're right." Said Estellise.

"Well hey, At least we made it out of the castle." Yuri grinned, raising up his right hand, palm outstretched.

"Not so hard." Ragna smirked, using his left hand to slap palms with Yuri, even if it wasn't as smooth as using his right. Observing how that interaction went, Estellise performed the same action after Ragna, with her left hand as well.

Both Yuri and Ragna chuckled lightly at this, making Estellise stare oddly at the two.

"Um, was that not right?" she asked.

"Just use your right hand next time." Ragna nodded his head.

"Nah... It's fine..." Yuri replied. "So Estellise, what are you gonna do now that you're out?"

"I'm going to find Flynn." She proclaimed.

"Do you know where he went?" asked Yuri.

"The other day, he said he was going off on a knight's pilgrimage." Estellise said, noticing that Yuri apparently recognized the 'pilgrimage' part of her words. No surprise there, he was a knight once before.

"Ohh, that thing. Going around the cities of the empire piling up good deeds?" Yuri asked.

"Yes. That's why I'm going to the City of Blossoms, Halure. It is the first place that the knights traditionally visit on a pilgrimage." She explained.

"City of blossoms huh? Why do I have the feeling that I know someone who'd love that place...?" Ragna muttered quietly to himself. Certainly can't be a family member, that's for sure. Probably a girl though.

"So you'll need to go outside the barrier." Yuri said, placing a hand underneath his chin and began thinking.

"Have you ever been beyond the barrier?" Estellise asked him.

"A little while back." Yuri said, looking up at the sky. "I'd like to go, but I can't just leave the lower quarter like it is." He continued, before turning his attention towards Ragna. "Hey, you've been outside the barrier before, right?"

"Huh?" Ragna snapped out of his trance. "Y-yeah, I guess. Though like I said before, I don't really remember much about it."

"Ah well." Yuri shrugged. "Come on, I'll show you two the way out of town. It's on the way to the Lower Quarter."

"Thank you!"

"Thanks."

It really shouldn't take long before they get back to the path that lead down to the Lower Quarter.

In Ragna's case, he still probably didn't know this city. Not only was what he could see unfamiliar, but it was as if his body had no memory of the feel of the air in this place. An unknown self in an unknown place. That was extremely vague, and he felt uncertain which of course, was a little tiring.

Along the path they were walking, many side roads forked out like tree branches, and at the end of it, the bustling main street flickered in and out of sight with its various merchants.

Compared to when Yuri came here yesterday, there were less figures walking about, though the number of vendors was still the same as ever.

Of course, just as they reached the steps that lead back to the Lower Quarter, irritating voices were heard.

"You there, fugitive! Halt, I say!"

"The jig is up!"

"Fools! Enough grandstanding, arrest him!"

The trio composed of Yuri, Ragna, and Estellise turned around and spotted the three knights some distance away from them.

"What should we do?" asked Estellise.

"First you pick up one of these..." Yuri started, reaching down for a small stone. "Then go like this!" he continued, throwing a stone at each of the knight's helmets.

"Nice." Ragna chuckled.

"Let's get to the Lower Quarter." Yuri continued, leading the two down the path. As they reached the bottom and began looking around, a familiar voice for Yuri called out to him.

"Yuri! Where've you been?" an old man said, approaching the trio.

"I got an invitation to the castle and had the most marvelous time." Yuri replied sarcastically.

"Of all the..." the man paused, as he noticed Ragna and Estellise. "And who're the young couple you've brought here with you?"

"Wha-"

"W-we're... not a... couple..." Estellise stuttered, walking up to the old man and bowed her head. "Pleased to meet you. My name is Estellise."

"The pleasure is all mine, Miss." The old man said, before walking over to Yuri.

Since he's chatting with what Ragna assumed to be his grandson, Ragna gave out an exasperated sigh before walking over to stand besides Estellise.

"I don't think you expected to head out of the castle like this." He told her, watching with curiousity at the strange fountain that didn't contain any water at the moment.

"Huh? Oh, I guess so. But it's still kind of thrilling don't you think?" Estellise asked.

"I'm just here to see what happens. The way I see it, I'm bound to find out something about my past if I travel with you." Ragna answered, crossing leaning back against the side of the fountain. "And it's not like I know anyone else either."

"Ah, so you're lacking in friends then?" Estellise smiled at him.

"I guess... though I don't think I've ever had any in the past. Then again, since I don't remember, that probably won't apply." He replied.

"Ready to go yet?" Yuri called out to them.

"Oh! We're coming!" Estellise called out, taking hold of Ragna's right hand and dragging him forwards.

"Uhh..." Ragna started, before following. He can't exactly pull away with that hand at least. Did Estellise forget that?

Just as they were beginning to head down the path that lead outside the Lower Quarter, a more irritating voice called out at the top of their lungs.

"Yuri Lowell! You've given my two lackeys a headache. Now be a good boy and turn yourself in." The knight shouted, the trio turning around to spot the Knight's Captain following them.

"He doesn't really expect you to just turn yourself in is he?" Ragna asked Yuri.

Yuri just gave a shrug of his shoulders in response. "Well, that's our cue. Looks like I won't be coming back here for a while."

"Never a dull moment with Yuri around." The old man smirked, turning his head to see a little girl raising her hand as if ready to give a signal. "After this, I'll be even with you for getting that money back."

"Just make sure you don't kick the bucket blowing it all on some crazy party." Yuri replied, turning his head.

"Heh, same to you. See that you don't go dying in any ditches." The old man said.

Giving a simple nod of his head, Yuri began moving away towards the exit, followed by Ragna.

"Wait for me!" Estellise called out, turning briefly towards the old man and bowed her head. "It was nice to meet you, sir."

"Ah, they'll probably be quite a pain in the neck. You make sure to take care of yourself, now." The old man told her.

"I will, thank you!" Estellise replied, running after Yuri and Ragna.

Even as the trio made their way forwards, the sudden rush of a crowd was quite overwhelming, and they were all separated from each other. A distraction to the knight chasing them for sure, but this is still a bit annoying.

Ragna was the first to get out of the crowd, gasping for breath as he ran ahead before turning around. Spotting Yuri and Estellise, he nodded at the two of them before continuing to run forwards, away from the crowd and paused to catch their breath.

"Wow, Yuri. They're all going to miss you so much." Estellise told the man.

"Honestly, they're probably thrilled to finally get rid of me." Yuri said.

"Did this happen last time you tried to leave?" asked Ragna.

"Of course not." Yuri replied, reaching into his pocket, taking out a small bag and frowned. "Hey, hold it! Who put money in here? I can't take this." He said, beginning to run back.

"Haaalt! Get out of my way!" the voice of the knight chasing them shouted. He was definitely catching up.

"Huh... I guess I'll have to keep it for now." Yuri sighed, turning around. Ragna and Estellise followed closely behind as they ran. Just as they hurried on, they heard the clank of metal falling down. Turning around again, they spotted a dog tripping the lone knight chasing after them before calmly making its way towards the trio.

"Nice one, Repede." Yuri greeted it, as if it was a companion he always had.

"A dog?" Estellise wondered.

"Well, for now, it's north to Deidon Hold." Yuri nodded at his two companions.

"What? Oh, right!" Estellise looked up at him.

"Like I said, I'm going to be sticking around with you both." Ragna nodded as well.

"I'm not sure how long we'll be together." Said Yuri, "But here's to the road ahead Estelle, Ragna." He smiled.

"Yes, I...? Huh? Es... telle? Estelle... Estelle." She repeated, before smiling lightly as well. "To the road ahead, you two."

"Well, so long for now." Yuri responded, taking one look back at the city they were leaving for some time.

"We hope to be back soon." Estelle waved her hand at no one in particular, presumably just waving good-bye at the city she called home.

"If I'm lucky, I'll be able to travel with you two for quite a while." Ragna smirked, turning around and looking at the exit. Once they were through the barrier, they'll be out in the elements, facing the world and seeing where it takes them.

Even if their destination was already planned, it was a scenery he didn't know. However, he couldn't tell whether it was due to memory loss or whether he really didn't know it, and it was like the darkness in his heart was expanding.

But the wind blowing in from outside the barrier was refreshing, and the flow of time about to be spent travelling would seem to be disconnected from the world. Ragna looked forward to that. Travelling with his new friends, to places unknown to himself, he can at least learn can't he?

"Let's go."

* * *

**Author's Notes: Well, Ragna's a bit handicapped right now, but he'll be able to pull through eventually. It takes time to get used to a single working eye and arm after all.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Adventure**

**

* * *

**

Deidon Hold... though certainly not as large as the Imperial Capital, there's something about the simplicity of this place that made him feel at peace. At least for this moment. He can still see the patrols of knights right at the main entrance of the Hold.

The travelling inn from earlier was nice enough to let them get some rest, and he was given a free eye-patch, but they did need to keep moving after all.

"Do you think those knights followed us here?" asked Estelle, still a bit wary of the patrols after just recently escaping from the Imperial Capital.

"I wonder." Yuri replied with a casual shrug. "Well, let's do our best not to stand out."

"Okay." Estelle nodded, "And I want to catch up with Flynn as soon as I can."

"Alright, let's see if we can pass through the Hold." Said Yuri, walking forwards. At that moment, something seemed to distract the princess as she began heading towards a different direction. "Where is she off to now?" Yuri sighed.

Ragna himself had already begun walking ahead as well.

"And where are you off to?" Yuri called out to him.

"Just checking the place out. Doesn't seem that big so I doubt I'll get lost." Ragna replied with a wave of his hand.

"And he's gone too." Yuri murmured before heading off to see what Estelle had found.

The guard station seemed to be public, and there were a bunch of people just chatting with the inhabitants... or just resting inside. The place at least seemed to have an air of authority... though it wasn't as overwhelming as the Imperial Capital.

It didn't take long before Ragna decided to head up the first two sets of ladders to see if he can find a vantage point to scan the area with his working eye. In his mind, and as he already explained to his travelling companions, everything in the landscape was foreign to him. Heck, he couldn't even recognize the monsters outside of the Capital.

He walked by the edge of the Hold's walls, looking down at the area below him. Far in the distance, a single tree stood out. At this distance, it may even be larger than the ones in the forest around the Hold. "Well that's strange." Ragna told himself quietly, before he spotted a flash of white at the side of his vision.

Turning his head to the left, he spotted someone looking out into the field like he was. It shouldn't be surprising, but the man's long, white hair and cold, red eyes definitely stood out. After all, how many people other than Ragna actually had white hair like that? And still looked young on top of it?

"Hey..." Ragna called out in greeting, approaching the man, only to be met with cold indifference. "Not the talkative type, I see." He sighed, looking out in the same direction as the man in an attempt to look for... wait, what was he looking for again? "What are you looking at, anyways?" he asked.

For a moment, he expected the silent treatment again, but surprisingly enough, the man answered.

"Humanity at work. Their tenacious attachment to this life..." the man replied. "Why...? Why must humans live the lives they do?"

Contrary to his looks, the man's voice was quite deep. And if Ragna didn't know any better, he could swear he heard a voice exactly like this before.

"They fight for a share of monopolized technology and hurt even those closest to them..." the man continued.

Something clicked in Ragna's head. Monopolized technology? That sounded just like... "The Grimoires?" the words left his mouth before he could even think. It sounded right though. The knowledge to control certain types of what some people would like to call 'magic' locked away in things known as 'Grimoires.' They were fought over as well, that much he remembered from the fragments of his memory.

"What are you talking about?" the man asked him.

Well this is awkward. "I... uh... you know... the Grimoires that allow people to harness magic? Or... something like that." Ragna muttered. He could still see the confused expression that the man gave him. Before he could continue to explain himself any further, loud bells began to ring all around the hold.

That seemed to be the signal for the other white-haired man to leave, walking away from Ragna.

"Hey!" Ragna called out, before turning his head at the rapidly approaching cloud of dust in the distance. "Wha-" he paused mid-sentence. That wasn't just a cloud he could spy out in the distance. An entire herd of monsters and one really big one was approaching the hold. From below the look-out point, Ragna could see the people outside streaming through the gate into the hold, with some stragglers falling behind.

Another event caught his attention. He spied Yuri and Estelle running out into the open field to help the stragglers.

"Oh geez, this is bad news." Ragna muttered, jumping off the roof and landed cleanly on the ground in front of the hold. "Are you two insane?" he called out to the pair, running after them. Not that he needed two. Estelle arrived to heal an injured person while Yuri already grabbed a frightened little girl as both headed back towards the hold, forcing Ragna to make a complete turnaround.

"My doll, mama's doll!" the little girl cried out, reaching out with her tiny arms at the rapidly disappearing figure in the distance.

"Crap, why am I even bothering?" Ragna sighed, running back and grabbing the doll. Well, he had one hand free didn't he? So he may as well help out just a little.

When the group reached the gates, they were closed as soon as possible... slow as they are.

Handing the doll to the little girl, Ragna sighed and slumped down onto the ground. "At least that's over." He said, closing his eyes. Just out of the capital and they were already knee deep in trouble. Or at least, they almost got in trouble. Wouldn't this count as not exactly keeping a low-profile?

After the three people they helped gave their thanks and left, he and Yuri both got up and walked forward, relieved that the most stressful event of the day was over... at least they hoped so.

"I'm just thankful that everyone's safe." Estelle said.

"I dunno... trying to save people isn't really my style." Ragna shrugged, beginning to walk away.

"Where are you off to?" Yuri asked him.

"Just looking around again. I'll be at that little camp down there." He waved a hand at them, walking down the path and passing a pair of two, strange-looking people heading towards one of the knights in charge of this place.

"I wonder...?" Ragna murmured, staring at the various caravans stationed in this place. Were they waiting for the monsters to leave before continuing on their way? It's a likely choice, but not a very good plan travelling with that many people. Some of the supplies were just strewn down on the ground as if they were junk as well and he saw no reason not to pick up the small collections of gels and a strange object that looked like a magnifying glass.

Hearing footsteps behind him, Ragna turned around, before coming face to face with Estelle again. "Something on your mind?" he asked her.

She nodded her head in response, taking a seat on the ground beside Ragna. "We can't go to Halure with those monsters roaming beyond the walls. But we need to find a way through eventually." She sighed.

"Don't worry too much about it. I'm sure you'll find a way." Ragna answered, sitting down as well. "The way this is all laid out, I don't think I can do much other than follow you around."

Estelle nodded her head in response. After a few seconds of silence, Estelle turned her head towards him and asked, "Ragna, do you remember anyone from your past at all. Something new in your memory?"

"Hmm? Oh... well, nothing so far. I don't know how memory loss works exactly, but maybe a week or so and then I'll think up something... I guess?" he wondered, taking a seat down as well. "Still, at least I'm glad I have people like you and Yuri to talk to. I don't know what I'd do alone."

"It must be hard not to know anyone." Said Estelle.

"Well it's not that bad. Somehow I think I'm really more of the loner type, though it's not like I'd refuse the chance to be with other people." Ragna nodded his head before chuckling lightly to himself. "Heh, imagine... I'm some kind of villain who lost his memory due to a stupid accident."

"That's not funny, Ragna." Estelle murmured, looking behind her and spotted Repede approaching. The dog took a seat beside Ragna and seemed to yawn. Whatever the case, that must mean Yuri would be arriving quite soon as well.

"You two." His voice called out, as if right on cue.

"W-we're not waiting around for the monsters to leave or anything. We're just resting a little." Estelle replied promptly, turning her head.

"Oh I see," Yuri replied with a smirk, "Well then, I guess I'll just take the other way around myself." He continued, going back the way he came back towards the entrance to the Hold.

"What? How did you...?" Estelle reacted with surprise, standing up and dragging Ragna up as well. "Hey, wait for us!" she called out.

* * *

"A forest in a place like this can only mean..." Estelle said quietly, "...the Quoi Woods...?"

"Bingo." Yuri replied with a smile. "You're just full of information aren't you?"

Ragna stayed silent as he watched their surroundings. It's not as if he's scared of course, not yet at least, but there was something about the atmosphere here that he didn't like.

"I read in a book once, that a curse will fall upon anyone who enters the woods." Estelle stated.

"Ah, so that must be the surprise." Yuri said, beginning to move forwards. He took a few steps in before turning around, seeing that Estelle and Ragna hadn't followed as quickly as he'd hoped. "Not going in? That's fine by me, but what about Flynn?" he asked Estelle.

"I know..." Estelle sighed. "Okay, let's go!" she continued with slight hesitation, Ragna following closely behind.

The monsters in this place weren't that strong really. A group of four people wouldn't have that much trouble with the strange, moving plants, giant insects, axe-beaked birds... Of course, it's always too quiet, and Ragna was the most hesitant of the four to continue on. He didn't mention anything though, just continued to follow Yuri's lead.

Upon entering a clearing, Estelle paused.

"Did you hear something?" she asked them.

"Not really." Ragna replied. "Unless your hearing is that much greater than mine, the only sound I can hear here would be silence, and you three walking."

"My feet feel cold of a sudden." Estelle said. "Oh no! Is this the curse?"

"What sort of curse is it supposed to be, anyway?" Yuri asked her.

"The voices of corpses buried beneath the trees creep up and lure us to our doom..." Estelle proclaimed with a frightened expression.

Even more frightened, by the looks of it, was Ragna though. "There are dead things here?" he cried out, shivering. "Oh man... ghosts. What if there are ghosts? What are we going to do if there are dead things that want to kill us?"

"Oh, brother." Yuri replied. "I didn't think you're the type who'd be afraid of that." He told Ragna.

"It's not me, I just... don't like ghosts..." Ragna answered, still shivering as they continued on their way.

"What's that?" Estelle said, pointing out a ruined structure close by. It was old, worn, and it didn't look like it had been touched for a long time.

"A blastia? What's it doing in a place like this?" Yuri wondered, the group of three and the dog approaching the structure. "Let's take a break." He suggested.

"I-I'm alright." Answered Estelle, turning her head towards Ragna. "Do you need rest?"

Lifting both shoulders, Ragna gave out a sigh. "Not really. I just want to get out of this forest as soon as possible." He answered, following Estelle forward past the structure. Just as they passed it though, he saw Estelle take a look at a gem-like object embedded within it.

"Huh? What's this?" Estelle wondered, reaching out to touch the gem.

Almost immediately a bright flash of light enveloped the group, knocking Estelle back unconscious.

"Estelle!" Ragna cried out, reaching down to help her before a strange sensation crept over him. "What?"

His right arm, the one he couldn't move at all involuntarily lunged forward and clamped down hard on the so-called blastia, pulsating with energy and emitting some kind of dark energy. Something from it was being drawn into his arm and he was powerless to stop it.

"Ragna! Let go!" Yuri called out, a mighty wind beginning to form all around the blastia.

He felt himself weakening... unable to stop whatever was happening to his arm. It was too strong... the compulsion to let go, too great. For the first time, Ragna felt the presence of another entity, wilful, ravenous, and deranged. Was it something from inside him that caused it? Just before the blastia was drained completely, his right hand relented, and he recovered his control... forcefully pulling his right arm away from the blastia.

Gasping for air, sweat trickled down his forehead.

The wind dissipated, Yuri watching in astonishment before Ragna suddenly fell forward and lost consciousness as well.

* * *

"_Where... am I?"_

"_...na..."_

"_Who's there."_

"_Rag...na..."_

"_Where are you?"_

_He was lost. He was running._

_To where?_

_The bright light surrounded him everywhere. He didn't know how long he was running, but it seemed as if he was the only living thing in this area filled with light._

_It felt nearly an eternity before he spotted any other sign of life._

"_Hey! Wait!" he called out to the shadowy figure in the distance. When the figure could be seen more clearly, Ragna paused in his tracks. It was a very familiar face._

_No, noticing a familiar face would imply that there was some ambiguity about the face itself. For some reason, when he laid eyes on the face, he was certain on who it was._

_Beautiful golden hair tied up into two, with a large ribbon adorning it, a very young girl clad in a black dress..._

_Just like a rabbit, her deep red eyes looked fixedly at Ragna._

_Rachel Alucard, a name seared deep into his memories._

_That's right, he remembered. Before Estelle used her healing magic on him, the one who Ragna had seen using magic was her. An old acquaintance, she was a girl who would abruptly teleport in to get on Ragna's nerves and hurl insults and sarcasm at him, before just as abruptly teleporting out. But there was more to that than simple insults, there had to be._

_Nonetheless she had lived for far longer than Ragna had, and while she looked angelic she was actually a vampire._

If it was this girl then she should know. Who he really was. Why he was in a place like this. Why he had no memories. And how to regain them.

_But there was something seriously wrong here. _

_Sprinting towards her, it felt as if he wasn't gaining any ground at all. Recognizable from a distance, he still can't catch her. "Rachel, please wait!" he called out._

_No use, the girl was floating back, away from Ragna. _

"_Rachel please!" he shouted out, reaching out with his hands. For a moment, it looked as if the figure in the distance was reaching out for him as well, but the distance was too far apart._

"_Rachel!"_

"_I'm sorry Ragna... The distance from here to there... is far too great." Her voice echoed, before her image faded from view._

"_Rachel..." Ragna whispered, getting down to his knees. What did she mean by the distance being far too great? Will they ever see each other again? Would they even be able to talk to each other again?_

_This place filled with light, immediately transformed into one covered in darkness. The darkness sounded as if it was howling with laughter. Looking up, he saw a mouth shaped like a crescent moon, sneering down at him._

_

* * *

_

He woke up, gasping for air, back in the confines of the forest.

"Ah, so you're finally awake." Yuri's voice called out from behind him. "You woke up a few seconds after Estelle actually."

Sitting up groggily, Ragna placed his right hand on his forehead. "What happened?" he asked.

"I think there was something in the aer that caused us to collapse." Estelle said beside him. "But your arm..."

"My arm?" Ragna wondered, before realizing which hand he placed on his forehead. He could move it again.

"That's a good thing, right?" Yuri asked him. "Back there, I thought your arm was going to blow up for some reason. I don't know how that works, but it seems like you regained its use again." Yuri nodded.

"Yeah... I guess..." Ragna said quietly.

"Is that arm of yours a blastia, Ragna?" Estelle asked him.

"I don't know." He sighed in response. Even after that strange dream of his, he's no closer to finding out more about himself.

"So that girl you were calling out to in your sleep... was that your girlfriend?" Yuri teased him.

"Huh?"

"Her name was Rachel right? You sounded like you wanted to see her so much." Estelle said. "And then you sounded so upset... was she someone really close to you?" she asked him.

He didn't know how to answer that question. "Probably, yeah... though I think we had a habit of calling each other names..." he sighed.

"Sounds like a typical couple to me." Yuri said with a grin. "Well, anyways... are you two well-rested enough or do you need a few more minutes?" he asked them.

"Just a few more minutes for me, I'm still feeling a little tired." Ragna replied, laying back down and closed his eyes. He didn't have to move much to notice what the make-shift pillow was. It was Yuri's dog acting as the pillow, and he was grateful for it providing some comfort. "Thanks." He murmured, before dozing off again with Estelle and Yuri watching him curiously.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **

**Took a while for another chapter. Again, expect regular chapters during the Summertime, not the current season. Exams, essays, etc. **

**Ragna has full use of his arms now, that's a good thing... right?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Onward to the City of Blossoms**

* * *

"Prepare to die, Eggbear!"

The voice caught him by surprise as Ragna turned around to look for the source of the noise. What awaited him was a boy jumping out of the bushes holding an oversized sword comparable to his own. No words were spoken, but the boy already began spinning around with the weapon... without any sense of direction whatsoever.

"Poor kid." Ragna said.

"I got this." Yuri replied, stepping forward and holding out his sword, watching as the boy passed by him while continuing to spin. A single slash put a stop to the spinning, part of the boy's weapon being cut away as Yuri swung.

"Oh man, that hurt." The boy said as he fell back on the forest floor.

Ragna watched as Repede approach the boy, observing the frightened reaction as the boy sat up and then fell on his back again.

"I-I'm warning you! I don't taste very good. You'll get the runs." The boy stated nervously without even opening his eyes. Repede barked once and the boy continued, "Oh my gosh, s-s-somebody h-h-help me -! Aah!" he cried out.

"Is this kid for real?" Yuri wondered.

"Seems typical for a kid." Ragna said in response, watching Estelle approach the boy soon afterwards and knelt down beside him.

"It's alright now." Estelle softly said with a smile.

Opening his eyes, the boy looked up and spotted her. "Huh? The monster turned into a girl?"

"This should be interesting." Yuri said.

Moments later, the boy picked himself up, no worse for wear and had seemed to calm down.

"I'm Karol Capel! I'm a member of the Hunting Blades guild. We travel the globe in search of the toughest monsters." he said.

"I'm Yuri. This is Estelle. This is Ragna, and you've met Repede already." Yuri said, motioning his hands towards the rest of the group. "Anyway, nice to meet you."

And with that, Yuri turned around and began to walk away.

"What? Yuri, wait!" Estelle called out, following the man as Ragna gave a quick sigh.

"You'll get used to them running off by themselves. It's not a big deal." He said, looking back at the boy.

"Huh? But you guys are here to enter the woods, right? Or am I mistaken?" Karol asked them.

"Actually, we've just finished coming through the woods, and we're on our way to Halure." Estelle replied as she turned around.

Seemingly a little shocked, Karol shook his head in disbelief. "No way! You guys made it through the cursed woods?" he asked first, before suddenly changing the question. "Did you guys run into any eggbears?"

"A what now?" Ragna wondered.

"Do you know what he's talking about, Yuri?" asked Estelle.

"Nope, I don't think we've seen any." Yuri replied with a shrug, turning his attention back towards the boy.

"Man... wonder if I should head back to town then?" Karol murmured to himself. "They definitely won't like it if I keep them waiting... All right!" he suddenly decided on an idea, looking at the group with a grin. "I'm not sure you three would make it on your own, but never fear. The star member of the Hunting Blades will be your escort." He proclaimed, pointing down at the oversized bag he carried with him. "See that?" Karol gestured at a small orb in the center. "I've even got my own blastia."

Yuri and Estelle exchanged glances quickly, readily apparent that they had blastias of their own.

"I feel left out." Ragna muttered, continuing to watch the boy as he pulled out a book from his back. Supposedly, there was information about monsters that roamed the land... well, that might be an interesting thing to read later.

"Ragna we're leaving."

"Huh?" he replied, snapping out of the daze. "Oh, right." He continued, following Estelle out of the woods.

"Yo! Do you guys even know where you're going?" Karol called out to them. "Halure's to the north once you get out of the woods. Come on guys! Wait for me!" he continued, running towards them in an attempt to catch up.

* * *

**Extra **

The white-haired man from Deidon Hold walked through the woods, with only one destination in mind. Knowing that people passed through here, he was fairly cautious about who might see him in this area. Upon arriving at his destination, the malfunctioning blastia in the heart of the woods themselves, the man stopped in his tracks.

"What... is this?" he asked no one in particular. The blastia core had become inactive, though traces of something could still be sensed. A dark substance trailed all around the core, spreading a type of mist that mixed in freely with the very aer. And somehow, he could sense that there was something... alive about it.

* * *

**Halure**

"Halure... The City of Blossoms." Estelle said as they made their way into the city.

Was this the tree he spotted in the distance? Ragna wasn't too sure, but the sheer size of the tree in the dead centre of the town did give the impression that it was.

"Don't they have a barrier here?" Yuri asked.

"Yes, there should be." Estelle replied, looking around as if slightly confused.

"You guys haven't been to Halure before, right?" Karol asked them, the trio looking back at him and shook their heads. "So then you haven't heard of the tree barrier."

"Tree barrier?" Yuri and Ragna said in unison.

"Some blastia fuse to plant life, gain organic qualities and evolve. The tree barrier of Halure is one prime example of this. I read that in a book." Estelle nodded.

All this was something he couldn't really understand yet. While Yuri, Estelle, and Karol talked about the tree of Halure, Ragna walked on ahead to see the tree close up. It was a relatively short trek before he reached the base and from where he stood, he could see the size and majesty of the great tree. "To think something like this can actually exist... I wonder how long it's been alive?" he wondered.

Walking around the base of the tree was a start, though the reddish-brown patches on the ground around the tree was a certainly a curiousity. A tree this large would need to have its roots underground stretched out over a really large area. Perhaps a few hundred metres.

So why was this place called the City of Blossoms anyways?

A few more minutes later and he already managed to circle the entire base of the tree. And back at the original starting point stood Yuri and Estelle, looking up at the tree with the same curiousity that he had.

Yuri noticed him approaching person. "You have a habit of disappearing whenever we look for you." He grinned.

"Huh? Oh, sorry about that. I guess curiousity got the better of me." Ragna replied. "So, any of you find what you're looking for here?" he asked them.

The duo shook their heads in response, standing right beside Ragna as they all looked up at the great tree.

"The tree's flowers should blossom any day now." Estelle said almost expectantly.

"Yeah, I wish I could see it in bloom." Yuri replied.

"I know how you feel." Estelle nodded, "There's something about the image of a tall tree vibrant with blossoms and protecting the city that's so... romantic." She sighed.

"Believe it or not, I think I can relate." Ragna replied, thinking back to his meeting with Rachel in a dream just a few hours ago. With both Yuri and Estelle's eyes on him, Ragna stared back at them with a confused expression. "What?"

"Didn't think you'd be the type who would be swayed so easily with flowers." Yuri grinned.

"Pay no attention to him, Ragna. I think it's wonderful that someone like you can appreciate the beauty of these places." She smiled.

"Really?" asked Ragna. "In my case, I think I'm much more used to a field of roses or something like that. Can't say for sure what brought that memory up, but it shouldn't be too different." He continued.

"You two are complete romantics, you know that?" Yuri teased.

"Just trying to lighten the mood." Ragna answered, turning his head and briefly observed Estelle's flustered expression.

"Umm, well... anyways." Estelle started again. "You know, I'm going to stay here and help the injured."

"Or you could heal the barrier instead. When monsters come again, more people are going to get hurt so I think fixing the barrier should be our priority." Yuri explained.

"That's true, but I have no idea how I could heal a barrier..." Estelle said, pausing in her thoughts.

"Wouldn't healing a person and healing a barrier be extremely different anyways?" Ragna asked.

"What really needs to be healed here is the tree." Yuri replied, turning his attention back towards it. "It wouldn't be in this condition just because some monsters attacked it.

"Another reason then?" Ragna wondered.

Just then, a voice interrupted their chain of thoughts.

"What are you three doing here?" the old man's voice asked them.

Although Ragna hadn't met with the townspeople properly, he could see that this man was somewhat important in this place. Presumably, Yuri and Estelle already met him earlier... or not.

"We're trying to figure out why the tree has withered like this." Estelle explained.

"I don't know if you'll make much progress on that one." The old man said. "That knight Flynn couldn't figure out the reason either." He sighed.

Well that was a disappointment. But at least they knew that the Flynn person Estelle was talking about passed by here. He turned his head slightly, seeing recognition from Estelle's face before spotting Karol walking past them.

"Oh, Karol! Karol, we need your help!" Estelle called out.

"What are you talking about?" the boy asked, strangely hesitant.

"It seems these three are trying to figure out the reason the tree's withered up." The old man said, turning to face Karol.

"Oh, is that all?" he replied.

"What do you mean, 'is that all?'" Estelle asked him.

"I know the reason. It's why I was in the forest looking for the eggbear..." Karol sighed. "Look closely at the ground. See the strange colour?"

The trio looked down and sure enough, they could see the brown and red streaks that seemed to litter the ground all around the tree.

"That color is where the ground absorbed the blood of monsters who attacked the town. That blood has been poisoning Halure's tree." Karol explained.

"That's the first time I've ever heard of blood poisoning something." Ragna said, "Is there anything we can do to get rid of it?"

"I know a way, but..." Karol paused, "Well, no one believes me."

"Come on, try us." Yuri replied, walking over as he placed a hand on the boy's shoulder

Karol paused briefly again before continuing, "I think we'd be able to do it if we had a Panacea bottle."

"Maybe we can get one in the General Store." Yuri said.

"Let's go, Yuri!" Estelle called out energetically, leading the way towards the store with Yuri and Repede following closely.

* * *

**Halure: Nighttime**

He didn't really need to stay behind, but he did so even with Estelle pleading for him to come with them back to the woods where ingredients for the Panacea bottle would be found. At least that way, he didn't have to deal with whatever spirits that may be lurking there.

Passing the time in this place was oddly soothing, or perhaps it was just the title of the city itself. A quiet place for sure, and one that he got used to pretty quickly.

What he did to pass the time felt strange, however. He wasn't much of an avid reader, that much he knew but Ragna wanted to know more about just where he was exactly. He hadn't encountered anything familiar at all and the books he read right now aren't getting him anywhere. The books were readable at least, which means the language here was the same as the language he knew subconsciously in his memories. Certain symbols however, were a complete mystery.

The mayor was kind enough to lend him a hand with the symbols that he didn't know about. Unfinished maps and the history of the world were beginning to convince him that this world was a completely different one from the one he was used to. There was no mention of the Black Beast in the histories, nothing about the use of Ars Magus. Even as his memories slowly returned to him, he knew that something was definitely wrong here.

By the time his three companions plus the dog got back, Ragna was beginning to feel a little depressed. Although they seemed cheerful about having their little antidote to the tree's poison, his mind wandered to different things.

"You alright?" Yuri asked him.

"Huh?" Ragna looked at him and nodded his head. "Yeah, I just had something on my mind. It's not very important right now." He said as they made their way up the little hill, leading to the tree.

By now, word had spread around the small town and a collection of people had gathered at the base.

"Oh! Have you made the antidote to cleanse the tree of poison?" one of them asked.

Yuri turned towards Karol in response. "Karol, it's up to you. I'm no good at this sort of thing." Said Yuri.

"Who me?" the boy replied, pointing at himself. "Okay then. Here goes!" he nodded before readying the bottle.

Ragna watched as Karol poured a bit of the liquid at the ground around the tree, before burying the rest of the bottle. They waited a few moments before a bright glow began to appear from the tree.

"The tree is..." Estelle murmured.

"Please, great tree of Halure. Restore the fallen barrier." An old man pleaded before the glow began to fade, before vanishing entirely. "Please..." he continued, distraught at the turn of events.

"No way..." Karol said in disappointment. "Was the dosage to small? Or maybe this isn't the right way..."

"We'll have to get another panacea bottle!" Estelle suggested.

"Oh, I'm afraid that's impossible." The old man said dejectedly. "All the luluria petals were used up for that bottle."

Estelle ran ever closer to the tree, looking up at the enormous figure. "But... we tried so hard..." she said, crossing her hands as if in prayer. "Please, great tree." She pleaded.

What happened next wasn't something Ragna had been expecting. Estelle began to glow and small orbs of light began to appear around her.

"Estelle...?" Yuri and Ragna said in unison.

"Bloom..." the girl murmured before a streak of light shot up from her towards the top of the tree.

White light filled Ragna's vision and for a moment, he felt another entity in his right arm. Although he had control over it now, he had to use his left hand to keep it down from whatever it was reacting to. He had to look at what was causing it to act that way eventually.

He couldn't see what was going to happen. That familiar feeling back at the Quoi Woods had returned and already, he felt faint. "Damn..." Ragna murmured, before falling to the ground.

* * *

_He opened his eyes to a thunderous downpour of rain. This time, he couldn't even feel his limbs._

"_Am I... alive?" he asked himself, though the words coming out of his mouth sounded foreign. Mostly due to the fact that it sounded so different._

_He tried lifting his body up, but it felt as if he was nailed down to the ground. So much for that._

_And then the sensation of his shoulder being on fire was there. When did that happen?_

_Looking to his right...he noticed a body part already missing. Again, was this supposed to tell him something?_

"_That's right... I lost my arm before." He murmured. He still couldn't stand up and the only thing he could see was the image of a church in ruins, and a music box in the rubble._

_He couldn't remember whether that was supposed to be something important, but he felt himself crying without knowing the reason._

"_Shit..." he cursed silently. "Shit... SHIIIIIIIIIIT!" he cried out._

_His body was useless, all he could do was curse and scream. So that's what he did until he passed out again._

* * *

He gasped for air, waking up with a start only to find himself alone on a bed. "What... happened?" he asked himself quietly. That dream he just had... it was very important, that much he knew. But why couldn't he remember its exact details?

He lifted his right hand up and looked at it, staring at its seemingly normal activity. All he knew was that the arm itself was a replacement. But it wasn't one of those blastia that Estelle thought it might be. No, it had to be something different.

"Ah, you're awake now." A voice said from the doorway, an old man stepping into the room. "Your friends were worried about you when you collapsed. They had a message for you as soon as you woke up, they said." He nodded, holding a little envelope.

"Message...?" Ragna wondered, slowly making his way off the bed and took the paper from the old man.

"_Hey, Ragna. We're probably heading to Aspio, the city of scholars right now by the time you wake up. We couldn't wait for you, but we made sure to lure some people away from Halure. If you ever see some people with red-eyes, stay low. Oh, and Estelle said that if a knight named Flynn passes by that place, tell him where we're headed. We'll probably head back there anyways so if it's possible, we'd like you to stay there._

_Signed, Karol."_

"Tch, guess I'm alone for a little while." Ragna said. "Thanks for taking care of me while I passed out." He nodded at the old man, before beginning to step out of the room.

"Ah, don't forget your sword!" the man said.

"Oh, right. Thanks." Ragna replied, watching the old man half drag his weapon towards him.

Huffing, the old man seemed glad as Ragna took back his weapon. "There are some knights outside talking with the townsfolk. They sound a little curious about what happened to the tree from last night. Maybe you can go talk to them?"

"Well, it's not like I'll have much to do." Ragna shrugged, stepping out of the inn. Again, there was a collection of people at the base of the tree but unlike from last night, many of them wore armor similar to the knights at the castle.

One of them stood out without his helmet on. A blonde-haired youth accompanied by a girl with a single-braid to the right of her face. He approached the group slowly, trying to listen in to the conversation happening there.

"...In addition, there was also a report regarding Lady Estellise being abducted by two men who broke out from jail. This is their wanted poster." The girl said, handing the blonde-knight the sketches.

Wait, two men who broke out from jail who abducted Estelle? They can't seriously mean...

"Lieutenant Flynn, that guy looks an awful lot like one of them." One of the knights pointed Ragna out.

"That's Flynn?" Ragna wondered, stepping forward and tried to act as non-threatening as possible. Well, he did have a little message for him. That should probably clear things up.

Flynn stepped forward to meet him, eyes narrowed. At first Ragna thought that he wanted to talk, but already things immediately began to fall apart. Flynn drew his sword and pointed it straight at Ragna, forcing him to adopt a defensive stance with his own weapon.

"By the order of the Imperial Knights of the Empire, you are under arrest for kidnapping Princess Estellise. Men, arrest him." Flynn ordered, his knights immediately began to surround Ragna, wary of his weapon.

"You've got to be joking." Ragna mumbled, glaring back at Flynn.

"Resistance is futile. If you value your life, you will come with us quietly." The young knight said.

"Last warning, I'm really not in the mood." Ragna replied, his eyes looking around to see just how many people here he'd have to take down. "If you don't want a beating, then I'd suggest you lower those weapons... now."

"Your words will not deter us." Flynn said.

"No, but it was worth a shot." Ragna responded, just as the knights around him surged forwards.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

**Yay, an update?**


	5. Chapter 5

**Destructive Black**

* * *

"So, you want it the hard way then." Ragna said as the knights attacked.

A dreadful flash and a thunderous roar ripped through the area, blowing nearly half a dozen knights away from him in a single swing. Even he was surprised at his strength. Before he regained the use of his arms, Ragna was pretty much on the same level as an above average knight.

"This is interesting." Ragna said, watching the surprised expression on Flynn's face. Mouth twisting into a fearless grin, Ragna pointed his sword at Flynn. "Are you going to stop or will I have to beat some sense into you?" he asked.

"Don't think we'll give up just because of that show." Flynn replied, deciding to confront Ragna personally. "Sodia, Witcher, back me up." He said.

Ragna's eyes briefly observed the two who responded to the call. The girl behind Flynn also drew her weapon but there was a kid who also stood further back with a staff. He may have to worry about the latter if his suspicions were correct.

A few more of the knights attacked him from behind, but Ragna avoided the blows and kicked away those who got to close.

"Demon Fang!" Flynn shouted as the knights distracted Ragna, trailing his sword across the ground before a quick shockwave travelled straight towards Ragna. It was a minor injury, but the attack indeed caught Ragna off guard, causing him to stagger from the blast.

Running towards Ragna now to take advantage of the opening, Flynn brought his sword down, only to have Ragna retaliate with a last-second block with his own weapon.

Ragna immediately parried the blade, using the momentum of the initial blow to send Flynn's blade flying up into the air.

The next moment was another purely instinctive action, one that Ragna didn't even know he could perform.

"Hell's Fang!" he shouted, darkness being gathered around his right fist as it collided with Flynn, knocking the wind out of his opponent. He paused with surprise for a second or two before making a follow-up attack.

Flynn recovered from his initial strike and he raised his shield up just in time to avoid the wave of a dark substance that Ragna seemed to have sent out.

Trying to press on the attack, Ragna sensed danger before he could land another strike. He jumped back before a blade cut through the space where he stood a moment ago. The girl who initiated that attack looked coldly at Ragna before both she and Flynn rushed at him together, hoping to overwhelm him.

"Seriously, just two?" Ragna asked, parrying the blows with his massive weapon. In a fight like this, he was at a better advantage than they may think. They've seen firsthand that he had no trouble knocking back a group of knights so this would probably end the same way.

His senses picked up something from behind his opponents and it became readily apparent that his suspicions were correct. The kid with the staff from earlier now had a strange, glowing symbol all around him as bright orbs of light began to condense at the tip of the kid's staff.

"Fireball!" the kid shouted, sending the flames straight at Ragna.

This seemed to be their plan as both Flynn and the girl broke off their joint attack and separated.

"Tch!" Ragna murmured, swinging his sword up first and then brought it down hard on the spell aimed at him. Again, a dark substance trailed behind the edges of his weapon as the sword cut down the fireballs, tainting the ground with a near crimson liquid akin to blood.

"We'll have to keep trying. He's bound to get tired eventually." Flynn looked at his knights, all of whom were certainly shaken up by everything that's happening. A single man was holding off, if not beating, their entire unit without so much as a scratch on him.

"I think this is over." Ragna said, lowering his stance. He brought his sword behind him, and a chill ran through the air at that moment. Flynn didn't have time to prepare. Darkness gathered like a whirlpool, being focused at the edge of Ragna's blade.

An attack was imminent and judging by the gaze that Ragna gave Flynn, the young knight was his main target.

"Carnage...!" Ragna started, moving with unimaginable speed, almost sliding across the ground. The first strike reverberated against Flynn's shield, the young lieutenant going immediately to the defensive, unaware of the mistake he just made. "Scissors!" Ragna proclaimed, the darkness gathered around the edge of his blade being unleashed with far more power than the 'Hell's Fang' follow-up from earlier.

There was a sickening crack, everyone watching the fight looked on in horror as Flynn's shield shattered from the blow while Flynn himself was sent flying back against the base of Halure's tree.

The display of power was unlike any the knights had seen before. Even the mage looking on was certainly quivering with fear.

Someone moved. The girl ran towards Ragna, her sword sliced through the air and aimed at his exposed chest.

Ragna retreated for a bit, holding his blade vertically to protect his ribs.

"Why the hell do you keep attacking?" Ragna complained while avoiding the girl's fierce attacks.

The girl didn't answer, but attacked with even more ferocity, trying to expose an opening for her to strike back at.

For a moment, the girl managed to put Ragna on the defensive. Missing once, however, the situation reversed. She didn't have a shield to defend herself properly, meaning Ragna's counter-attack was more dangerous compared to the pressure he placed on Flynn. She avoided and parried the blows, not risking a direct contest of strength with Ragna as she was pushed back.

He had to admire the girl's skills even if she was trying to kill him. Knowing that she can't compete in terms of strength, she used every bit of training given to her to control where he swung. She deliberately left openings for him to take advantage of before moving out of danger.

But that's it. He only needed to beat down someone who has gone on the defensive. She won't be able to find another opening, not unless he gave her one.

Ragna stepped ever closer to the girl and delivered a downward strike with all his might, as if to smash her down to the ground.

"Don't underestimate me!" the girl spoke for the first time, jumping away from the heavy blow.

Ragna's strike cut through the air and destroyed the ground, kicking up dust.

"Sodia! Now's your chance!" the kid with the staff called out, observing the battle. He could tell from a distance. Although he wasn't adept at close-combat, he knew that such a strong blow wouldn't even touch the girl.

Even Sodia's body was straining under the previous attacks, but she suppressed her fatigue and jumped away.

"Ha!" She shouted, lunging forward as soon as she landed. As if reversing her retreat, she sped straight towards Ragna. In contrast, Ragna still had his sword in the ground.

So it came to be a surprise when the counter-attack failed.

Ragna turned his body with the sword still in the ground. Sodia saw her mistake and tried to pull back, but the momentum prevented her from doing so and she could only raise her sword up to block. The impact sent her flying back as she landed on the ground with a cough.

Pulling herself up, Sodia glared at Ragna, breathing heavily.

The other knights made their attacks then, an unorganized group who lost their leading officer and were forced to rely on their own judgments in how best to handle this situation.

It quickly became a one-sided battle, Ragna's strength and speed were a mix of two things that they just weren't used to. More of the knights were blown back by the impact of Ragna's weapon clashing against them.

"Stay back!" the voice of the mage called out.

Fireballs rained down on Ragna like shooting stars as he tried to avoid them.

Two blades clashed again as Sodia took advantage of the distraction a third time in the hope that it would be enough to score a critical hit.

"Just give up." Ragna said, "I wasn't the one who attacked first, just listen!" he called out, swinging his blade to the side, Sodia barely avoiding it again.

Even though she is being overpowered, Sodia refused to yield. She blocked, parried, and faced the assault of Ragna's weapon head-on. Already it was obvious that she was tiring herself out, though certainly doing a lot better than the other knights who tried a similar attempt.

Ragna's sword collided with hers and she bravely blocked it with her own, flung away once again before the rain of fireballs started up again, colliding with Ragna directly with the force of a small explosion.

Sodia was down on one knee, looking straight at the smoke and haze before she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Flynn..." Sodia looked up at her superior, before noticing his shield arm. "You can't fight, can you?" she asked quietly.

"I think it may have been broken during that last attack he performed against me." Flynn said calmly, as if the pain from a broken arm wasn't much to bear. "I'll have to get it treated eventually, but we can't lose here."

The smoke and dust began to clear as Ragna blowed away the rest with another swing of his weapon, his right eye flaring bright, darkness surrounding his very weapon.

"Who did you say his name was again?" Flynn asked.

"The poster said, 'Ragna.'" Sodia replied, still trying to catch her breath. "I hardly think it's fitting to call that monster a single name with what he can do. That bloody-edged weapon of his is unlike anything I've seen or even heard about." She continued.

"Ragna and his bloody-edged weapon..." Flynn murmured, picking his sword up from the ground. "I don't know how Yuri actually managed to associate himself with a person like that." He sighed.

"You really are persistent aren't you?" Ragna asked, approaching warily. "If you value your life, you'll stop."

Flynn gritted his teeth and stared back at him. Whatever thoughts were going through his head, the young lieutenant didn't seem too eager to pursue the fight any further.

"Simmered down yet, then?" Ragna asked, "Good. Then we can actually talk now instead of having to waste our time trying to..." he paused, as his right arm suddenly began to spasm. Finding himself struggling to control his right arm, Ragna stepped back, trying to understand what was going on.

His right arm started to vibrate and it felt as if something deep inside had burst, as if some kind of fluid was seeping throughout its entire length.

Without being summoned, a massive amount of aer converged on Ragna's right arm, blackening in the process upon contact with something and without any sign of ending. An image suddenly appeared in his head, blackness spreading from his right arm into every part of his body, consuming it all.

"Is he losing control over his blastia?" Sodia asked.

"That's not blastia." Witcher said, watching with slight fascination before the dark aura around Ragna dissipated. Once it was finished, however, the man in front of them looked extremely worn out. His right arm hung limp and even his right eye didn't seem to indicate vision at all.

"Damn..." Ragna muttered, falling on one knee. That power he wielded earlier, had the overuse negated his ability to use his arm and eye again?

Sodia gripped her sword tightly and glared at Ragna. Now that he's at a disadvantage, they should be able to take him down now. She began to step forward to finish off Ragna, only to have Flynn hold her back.

"He won't be doing anything else to harm us." Said Flynn.

"You have no idea how lucky you are..." Ragna said, feeling dizzy. Was he always prone to these fainting spells? He didn't think too much about that now as his vision turned black.

* * *

He didn't have a dream this time. If anything, during his time being unconscious, everything was empty. He wasn't thinking of anything, and no ideas came to his head as he slept.

He woke to the sound of rain. Although still a little tired, Ragna's working eye tried to accommodate itself in the darkness of the room.

"Vicious criminal wanted for kidnapping, huh?" a voice said, forcing Ragna to turn his head towards that direction. It was that little kid with the staff, looking at him curiously behind a pair of glasses. "I'm sure there's a lot more to your story isn't there? Especially with that arm of yours."

"What do you want, applehead?" Ragna asked, standing up. Between him and the kid was a pair of iron bars, which probably meant he was in a jail cell of sorts.

"The name, is Witcher." The kid replied almost arrogantly, tilting his glasses up. "The rest of the knights are really annoyed with what you did a few days ago, especially Miss Sodia. I'm probably the only person here who'd bother to try talking to you."

"I slept that long?" Ragna murmured to himself, walking around to check out the cell he was in.

"We didn't actually know where to put you so we settled on binding you and taking you with us here to Capua Nor. Miss Sodia got a promotion for the bravery she showed when she fought you. Sir Flynn is recovering for now but he still insists on patrolling the area and..."

"Enough." Ragna sighed with irritation. "I didn't ask for the details of what happened afterwards. In fact, I don't think I asked anything that you're supposed to be answering at all." He continued.

"How rude." Witcher mumbled, crossing his arms.

"Why exactly are you bothering to talk with me anyways?" Ragna asked him.

"It's obvious, actually. I'm a mage who researches new forms of technology. The abilities displayed by your arm though, uses a completely different formula from every other piece of blastia technology we have." He explained. "Your arm may act like a blastia to the others, but I can see that there's a really big difference there. Where did you get that anyways?"

"I won't be able to answer those questions." Ragna replied, staring down at his immobile right arm. "All I know is, someone cut my arm off in the past and I got this as a replacement. I still don't know anything about it including why it decided to stop working." He shrugged, placing his left hand on the bars of the cell.

"That doesn't sound like a lie." Witcher nodded. "I'm sure you'll be able to explain yourself after..." he paused, eyes widening as Ragna's foot collided with the cell door, kicking it open and then walked out nonchalantly. "H-Hey! You can't do that!"

"Why not? I just did it, didn't I?" Ragna said, approaching the young mage. "Well, anyways. Thanks for keeping me company but I really need to get going. I don't suppose you know where they're keeping my sword?"

"U-upstairs... by a collection of confiscated equipment." Witcher replied nervously.

"Good boy." Ragna responded simply, making his way up the stairs. Everything was quiet, probably nearing night time. From what he could see, the knights stationed here were pretty lax in terms of keeping guard. Since the boy said that no one wanted anything to do with him, that was pretty convenient.

His working eye scanned the area, before spotting a collection of weapons and valuables at the corner of the room. The knights weren't even paying attention when he grabbed his weapon and made a quiet exit through a side door and into the rain.

"New place alright." Ragna sighed. Stepping away from the building and looked around. He's close to a port, judging by the sounds of crashing waves. Because of the angle of the buildings however, the sea couldn't be seen. What could be seen were rows of cramped buildings, and the occasional street light sporadically lighting up the town.

"Gloomy place." He murmured, stepping into a back alley to avoid attention to himself. It wouldn't be long before that young mage would make a report that he escaped. He planned to be long gone by then.

Then again, where exactly was he supposed to be going? He didn't know where his companions were, and they probably don't know where he is do they?

"This definitely sucks." Ragna continued to mumble to himself. He didn't feel as lonely as he thought he'd be though. Perhaps he's just accustomed to travelling by himself. But he was definitely starving for something to eat. If he had been knocked out for a few days, then it's only natural for him to want food.

But he didn't have any money with him. "I could probably dine and dash..." Ragna said quietly, looking at the rows of stores he passed. But do the rules work the same way here? He didn't really need another thing to add to his so-called crimes either.

Leaving the alleys for another path, the view of the dark sea expanded before his eye. As his field of vision opened up, the sea breeze blew across, Ragna's white hair fluttered violently.

He continued to try walking more through the town, looking for an inn of sorts that may or may not have a map with it. Moments later, he figured out that wasn't needed.

Far in the distance, he recognized Yuri and Karol's silhouette as they entered a building. They didn't notice him of course, but he could certainly recognize them even with only one eye.

As he approached the building, Ragna immediately forced himself to hide behind another alley, spotting that girl from the knights a few days ago along with Witcher heading inside the same building he intended to ender.

"Son of a..." Ragna murmured, trying to weigh his options here. He could wait here and hope that Yuri and the others could handle themselves against that pesky knight or... he could help them out.

Oh, who was he kidding? The choice was certainly obvious here. Besides, a reunion with his companions would be acceptable now. He opened the door to the inn, watching a small collection of people at the tables just sitting and waiting for something.

Two more doors lay ahead of him, perhaps leading to rooms. No one he recognized was in the lobby, so he'll have to enter one of those rooms.

He listened outside the doors, before hearing the familiar voice of that female knight accusing someone inside the left most room.

"You! Sir, it's the criminal from the wanted poster!"

As far as Ragna knew, he and Yuri were the main targets of that stupid poster. This wasn't going to end well alright.

Ragna opened the door, just as everyone in the room turned their eyes towards him.

"You!" Sodia replied first, the sword she was pointing at Yuri for the past few seconds immediately turned towards him.

"Me?" he responded, closing the door behind him and got into a defensive stance.

"How did you escape?" Flynn said with alarm, drawing his sword with his one working arm.

"Ah, so the stories were true." Yuri smirked, eyes looking towards Estelle who looked overjoyed upon seeing Ragna as he entered the room before turning his attention back towards him. "You got a title for yourself from what you did at Halure. Ragna the Bloodedge, the one-man army."

"And that's a good thing, right?" Ragna asked with irritation. The title however, began to stir up parts of his memory. Bloodedge, that name sounded very familiar.

* * *

**Author's Notes: Ragna obtained 'The Bloodedge' title. Heh heh heh...**


	6. Chapter 6

**Target of Opportunity**

* * *

"Flynn, wait!" Estelle called out. "Remember what I told you!"

Ragna's eyes continually shifted attention from the two knights and then to Estelle. At least the girl was trying to placate the rising emotions in this place. He doubted that a fight would break out here in this room, but well... he really couldn't predict what they'd decide to do.

The silence was thick and it was only when Flynn lowered his weapon that everyone seemed to relax.

"My apologies." The young knight said with a sigh. "I've acted too hastily."

"You don't say?" Ragna replied, the sarcasm in his voice on the verge of proclaiming an insult.

Ignoring his tone of voice, Flynn continued, "At ease Sodia. I heard their stories. "While my friend, Yuri, may be guilty of minor crimes, the warrant for his arrest contains false accusations. Mister Ragna here was a bystander who happened to get caught up in a mess he couldn't control."

"That's one way of putting it." Ragna muttered.

"Later, I will return them to the capital and explain the situation. And they will receive their due punishments." Flynn droned on.

"You're very welcome to try." Ragna answered, lowering his weapon and stepped back, leaning his back against the door as Flynn's partner lowered her own weapon, but not before giving him a venomous glare.

He didn't bother listening intently to what the mage, Witcher, was saying and so closed his eye in response. Still, he caught enough of the conversation to know the main points of what they were talking about. A blastia that controlled the weather and a monster outside the town that needed to be eliminated. None of which interested him that much.

When he opened his eyes again, Ragna looked around him for a second, only to find a little girl staring with grim determination at his right arm. "It's not one of those blastia... things, if that's what you're wondering." He said as he observed the girl. She was new to the group wasn't she?

"I know." She replied, turning her head away. At least the report was something that interested her.

When the discussion finished, he followed Yuri and his friends back out to the inn's lobby. Giving a quick sigh, Ragna plopped himself down on one of the chairs, letting his back get a much needed rest. "That could have gone better." He said.

"Don't think too much about it." Yuri told him, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Like I've said earlier, you really made a name for yourself back in Halure. I don't think anyone would have expected a single person to take on an entire company of knights and win."

"I wouldn't really call that winning." Ragna answered. "Besides, whatever happened there cost me my arm and eye. Maybe it was the effort I used, I don't know."

"That would have been cool to watch! I bet someone would have passed that information off throughout the country! You'll be famous!" Karol eagerly told him.

"Woof!"

"See? Even Repede agrees." The boy said, only to feel a sudden whack to the back of his head. "Ow! You suck!"

"Quiet, you. Aren't you all forgetting that we have something more important to investigate?" the little girl from earlier said.

"I forgot. You haven't met our little ball of sunshine here." Yuri chuckled. "Ragna, this is Rita. Rita, well... you know enough about him know, I'm sure."

"Hey." Ragna greeted.

"I'm going to keep a close eye on you," Rita said, "Especially that freaky reputation that your arm got." The girl replied, walking away from the group.

"She's a ball of sunshine." Ragna shrugged, watching the girl make her leave.

"You'll get used to it. Besides, I'm tired." Yawned Yuri as he also made his exit. "Catch you tomorrow. Seems like we have a lot to do then."

* * *

**Outside the Inn**

"So, what's the plan?" said Karol.

"I'm going to see Magistrate Ragou." Estelle replied.

"What? We'll get turned away at the gate if we try to go there. Even a noblewoman like you would have no chance of getting in."

"Yeah, but with the harbor barricaded, we can't cross over to Torim Harbor." Yuri said. "And that thief, Dedecchi along with that one-eyed giant, are both on the other side of the water."

"Let's stop blabbing about it and just go, why don't we?" Rita answered.

Yuri nodded his head. "If he won't listen to what we have to say, we can think of another plan."

"Alright. Let's head to Ragou's place." Said Estelle.

The magistrate's mansion was very easy to spot, situated across a bridge, the grey walls densely packed together with a large gate that beckoned the group to enter… or to scare them away. In the rain, it looked even gloomier.

"I don't like this place." Ragna murmured.

"A city where a magistrate can do whatever he wants really leaves a bad taste in your mouth." Rita replied.

"Looks like there are bound to be a few power-mad imperials no matter where you go." Yuri shrugged. "What we saw on the way to town here, that happened all the time back in the lower quarter."

"It involves that monster that this magistrate wants others to hunt isn't it?" Ragna replied.

"Bingo."

"I'm glad I live outside the empire. I don't think I could stand this very long." Karol said.

"Why would the magistrate do these things?" Estelle wondered to herself.

"Hey, we don't need to let the bad vibes in this city rub off on us. We just need to focus on what we can do at the moment." Yuri said, everyone else nodding in reply to him as they reached the gate.

Two guards barred passage as Estelle stepped forwards.

"I'd like to meet with Magistrate Ragou, if you'd be so kind." She asked them.

"Yuri. These men are mercenaries. I wonder what guild they're from?" Karol said in a low whisper.

"I guess that explains the thuggish look." He responded, causing one of the so-called mercenaries to give Yuri an irritated glare.

"Hmph, go home! Scram! The magistrate is a very busy man." The mercenary said.

"Surely not too busy to rough up the people in this town?" came Yuri's sarcastic response.

"Hey, you better watch your mouth, punk!" the other mercenary replied.

"And what if we don't? What're you going to do about it?" Ragna answered, his working hand moving to clasp the handle of his sword.

"Are you trying to start something here?"

Gritting his teeth, Ragna was very inclined to accept that offer, only to feel the tug of Estelle's hand. He looked back at her, features softening as she shook her head.

"See, I told you he wouldn't see us. Let's get out of here before things get sticky." Karol suggested.

"I'd have to agree with Captain Karol on this one. Let it go, Ragna." Yuri said, walking away.

Glaring at the two mercenaries one after the other with his working eye, Ragna turned around with Estelle following close behind.

As they regrouped a fair distance away, Ragna took another chance to glance back at the mansion. Two guards and one entrance. It wouldn't be too difficult to get past them if he played his cards right.

"We'd best leave the frontal assault to the Imperial Knights." Said Yuri.

"But isn't the fact that that's going so badly precisely what's got Flynn in a bad mood?" Rita replied.

"Maybe he'd come see us if we come bearing gifts, so to speak?"

"A gift? What do you mean?"

"The Rhybgaro. It's worth a fair amount of money, right?"

"One of the officials said that someone with its horn would never have to worry about taxes again." Estelle said.

"If we brought something that valuable, the magistrate would at least grant us an audience." Yuri nodded.

"You propose to catch the Rhybgaro?" asked Rita.

"If we're unlucky, this could put all of us on the wrong side of the law. Are you okay with this?" Yuri said, looking at Estelle. "The one who makes the laws in this town is his lordship, the empire's magistrate. You'd be okay with defying him?"

"I'm going with you." Estelle nodded.

"You're okay with it, then."

"Yes."

"Rita, you don't have any problems with it?" Yuri looked at the mage.

"I have to say. I'm incredibly interested in a blastia that can control the weather." Came the reply.

"Ragna?"

"I'll see how this plays out." He replied.

"Then it's decided!" Estelle proclaimed.

"Right. Let's seek out the Rhybgaro first." Yuri said, beginning to lead the way back to the town's entrance.

Before they could make their exit, however, Ragna spotted Flynn making his way into the town, his arm still tucked close to his chest from the injury he received from Ragna. As the young knight and his subordinates approach, there was a quick pause between the groups.

"You never could sit still, could you?" Flynn said, his gaze falling on Yuri.

"Stop treating me like a little kid!" Yuri replied, irritated as he began to walk past the knight.

"Yuri, don't do anything reckless."

"I haven't done anything reckless since the day I was born! I'm just chasing after a blastia thief!"

"Yuri…"

"You're the one who should ease up on trying to do the impossible, Flynn." Yuri continued, waving Flynn off to signify the end of their conversation, Ragna watching him go silently.

Flynn shook his head as Yuri took his leave before turning to one of his subordinates. "Witcher, go and see if we can get the right to search blastia laboratories." The young mage nodded his head and ran off, presumably to do just that as Flynn sighed. "I thought leaving the capital would have changed him a little. But it seems like he's even more reckless than before." He turned towards Estelle and Ragna, "Yuri's so single-minded when it comes to protecting others. He's willing to sacrifice himself in order to do it. I envy him for that, but I also worry that he'll take it too far."

Before anyone else could respond to him, Karol called out to the pair. "Come on, you two. Let's go. Yuri's gonna leave us behind."

"Right, we should be going now." Estelle replied, turning to Flynn as she gave a quick nod before turning towards Ragna.

"You go on ahead. I'll stay here for a bit and wait for you. There's something I forgot to do here." Ragna told her.

"I wouldn't suggest that. Remember what happened the last time we left you? I don't want that repeating itself again given what's going on in this town." Estelle said, her expression looking more than worried.

"I'll be fine. It's not like I'm going to cause any trouble until you get back." He replied with a nod. "Don't worry, I'm not going to 'do anything reckless' as this guy would put it." He looked at Flynn.

"Well, okay. Take care, Ragna." Estelle bowed to him politely before she ran out towards the group.

When they were out of sight, Ragna began to walk away, back towards the direction of the bridge separating Ragou's mansion and the rest of the town.

"Mister Ragna, wait." Flynn said, making him pause in his tracks. "I've yet to issue a formal apology for my actions a few days ago. I admit, I was rash in trying to apprehend you but I do hope that you can forgive the Imperial Knights, me in particular for not even trying to listen."

"Eh?" Ragna's working eye perked up at the apology. He hadn't expected this from this guy at all. "Yeah, don't worry about it. It's not like I lost any time or anything. Besides, I should be the one apologizing about what I did to your arm."

"Ah, yes. The attack that broke my arm." Flynn sighed, looking down at the sling covering his arm. At this point, he wouldn't be able to fight properly for a while. "It was my mistake anyways. Regardless, try to stay out of trouble next time. Things are a little volatile right now but we can't really fault anyone for it."

"Uh-huh…" Ragna replied, half-listening to what he was being told. He watched Flynn give a quick bow before going on his way.

"Now that's over with." Ragna murmured, turning his attention back towards the mansion. Eye focused on the large building, Ragna decided to walk around town for a bit, keeping as much of the mansion in his vision as much as possible. The lower quarter of Capua Nor provided a fairly good view of it, though so far, he didn't see any way to make a proper infiltration without getting rid of the guards.

He could just wait for the others to get back, but he didn't know how long it would take for them to catch that Rhybaro creature. He may not be at his full strength right now, but he was confident that those two guards at the front gate would be no challenge at all. The trick would be in shutting them up before they could sound an alarm.

"It's settled then." He told himself, resuming his walk and headed directly towards the mansion.

"You, turn back!" the first of the two guards called out as they saw him approach.

He ignored that warning and without even batting an eyelash, kept right on walking towards the gate.

"Come any closer and we can't guarantee your safety." The second guard said.

In spite of this, Ragna's pace remained the same. The main gate was pretty much in front of him and it was there that the two guards blocked his path. He could almost see the bloodlust on their faces as they stared back at him.

"We warned you. Don't blame us for what's going to happen."

The attack came suddenly, both guards running at him diagonally from the left and right. He gripped the great sword worn across his lower back and waited a few moments. When both the guards were in range, he struck, the force of the impact knocking the guard's weapons away and blew them away to either side of him, hitting the wall as they fell unconscious.

"That was easy." Ragna said, walking directly towards the unobstructed gate as he returned his blade back in its original position.

"What do you think you're doing?" a familiar, female voice called out from behind him.

"What's it look like I'm doing?" Ragna asked, not even bothering to turn around.

"What you're doing is against the law." Sodia said, stepping forward and pointed her sword at Ragna's back. "You were given a chance to prove your worth yet you squander it away almost immediately."

"Yeah, well. What are you going to do about it?" he replied, ignoring the blade pointed at his back and walked past the gates.

"I'm returning you to jail."

"Then do it." Ragna challenged her as he approached the doors to the mansion, opening it quickly with a quick turn of the knob.

"Don't force me to injure you. You can turn back now."

"I'm waiting." He continued, before suddenly pausing midway through the hallway. A young woman in black, presumably a maid came out of one of the rooms, a look of shock on her face as she stared at Ragna.

"Sir, you can't be here. It's forbidden." The maid said nervously.

"Your hands." Ragna said.

"Eh?"

"Hold out your hands."

Biting her lip, the maid raised her hands for a moment, giving both Ragna and Sodia a glimpse of bruises around her wrists, obviously not natural.

"I… I apologize! Please leave now!" the maid continued on, suddenly running off.

Ragna looked back at Sodia, watching her lower her weapon as if she was deep in thought. "I'm sure even you can see that there's something wrong going on here." He said.

"This is just like that incident before." Sodia murmured to herself. Regaining her composure, she looked back at Ragna, determination in her eyes. "Very well. I will help out in this investigation. But don't do anything reckless. Even I can't press charges without seeing more solid evidence."

"As long as you're not breathing down my back and telling me what I can or can't do." Ragna said, pressing further into the mansion. Getting in was fairly easy though now that he thought about it, what did this Ragou person look like anyways?

It took a few more minutes before they found themselves in another hallway, a strange-looking old man standing at the other end.

"How dare you trespass in my property." The old man replied, the contempt in his voice seemingly chilling the very air itself.

"I don't think you're at liberty to tell me that." Ragna said, stepping threateningly forward.

"We have reason to believe that there is some criminal activity going on within this mansion. If you cooperate, I will make sure that we leave as soon as possible." Sodia continued, following Ragna's footsteps.

"And do you have a permit to search my grounds?"

Sodia paused at the question. Before she could respond, Ragou interrupted.

"As I thought. By all rights, you would be considered criminals for what you dare to do. And criminals need to be punished."

"Is that a threat?" Ragna narrowed his eye. "Because you have no idea who you're dealing wi…"

He didn't get to finish. The floor opened up beneath Ragna and Sodia, sending them falling down into the dark basement of Ragou's mansion.

"What you are, are food for my pets. My word is law in this mansion." Ragou said, staring down into the abyss before the floor closed up again.

* * *

**Author's Notes: I'm baaaaaack. And now we see the main events branching off from the original Vesperia timeline. It's a little rushed but hey, at least now there's an update.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Lord of Change**

* * *

**Mansion Basement:**

Righting himself before he fell, Ragna hard on his feet, staring up at where he fell from. Unamused by what happened, he turned his head around, trying to find where that female knight fell. He spotted her soon enough beside him, the impact of the fall seemingly knocking her out.

Immediately, he knelt down, making sure that the girl was still breathing. He didn't know whether she hit her head or not, though he assumed that it wouldn't be the case here. Maybe just the impact of the fall on her armor caused her to black out. Anyone hitting their head from the distance they fell would likely have died, if not suffer from a major concussion. In the girl's case however, he couldn't find any signs of major injury.

"You didn't have to follow me, you know?" he started to preach to her unconscious form as he dragged her to the closest wall.

Before he could place her in a more comfortable position, Ragna narrowed his eyes as he felt an ominous presence. Quickening his actions on instinct, Ragna hefted his sword into his hand. Stepping in front of the unconscious knight, Ragna pointed the tip of the bulky sword at his surroundings.

As if waiting for that cue, several black shadows flew out of the darkness surrounding them. Four legged beasts, and their heads were at Ragna's knee level. There were six in total and they reminded him of the wolves that were abundant in the area outside Zaphias.

"You've got to be kidding me."

Their bodies lowered into a crouching stance, the six creatures lunged towards him and the knight as one. Drawing a semi-circle to protect the female knight, Ragna swung his sword in an attempt to shake them off.

His body moved faster than his head could think and he felt a dull sensation that meant he managed to slice one of the beasts' abdomens. His speed felt a bit off from his last few fights and although he was used to swinging the blade with his left arm, it still felt as if his sense of balance was thrown off. His right side's field of vision was also completely non-existent, which furthered continued his handicap.

He aimed a rough kick at one of the wolves underfoot and sent it flying, giving off a ghastly shriek in the process.

Another of the beasts jumped at him and he thrust out his sword in response as he used its front body to repel the attack, then used the bladed back to strike its skull.

Four left.

The bulk of his blade smashed into the nose of another. The wolf bit down on the blade so Ragna simply brought the sword down to the ground with a crash.

As one of the three left jumped at him, Ragna used its own momentum against it as he slammed his foot against it. Simultaneously he slashed his sword in a straight line to kill another.

The last jumped at the unconscious knight, fangs bared. Turning around, Ragna swung his blade and brought his entire body weight down on the beast's back, causing it to collapse before it even reached the knight.

Not a lot of time passed but the ground now had six beasts scattered around helplessly, all finished off in the span of about three seconds.

He clicked his tongue slightly before looking down at his right arm. If it were able to move, he'd probably have enjoyed the fight a bit more.

His gaze shifted to his companion, still immobile even after everything that happened. At the very least, he should not be held responsible should any harm come to her. He sighed, sitting down right next to her and allowed his back to rest against the wall.

After approximately an hour of rest, the female knight began to stir and Ragna immediately stood up.

"Took you a while to finally wake up. I don't mean to be a bringer of bad news but right now, we're not exactly in a good place to be in. The guy's basement has monsters inside it."

"Huh?" the girl tried to shake off her drowsiness as she attempted to stand herself. "This is…" she paused, before realization dawned on her. "Damn, I knew it."

"You mentioned something about an incident before that was similar to this? Care to explain?" asked Ragna.

She stared back at him, her thoughts troubled as she nodded her head. "It wasn't too long ago when I had my experience with another nobleman in his mansion. We had suspicions that foul play was going on but the knights couldn't do anything about it." She explained. "We apprehended the criminal eventually after finding out that he's been kidnapping people and torturing them for entertainment but…" she paused, uncomfortable about divulging these secrets, "… charges were dropped against him because of his connections."

"That's all sorts of messed up." Ragna replied.

"I don't want the same thing happening here." She continued, staring back at Ragna.

"Well then, let's do something about it." He nodded.

"Agreed."

Ragna led the way as they walked through the dank room, entering various interconnected hallways that lead to other similar rooms as the previous. More monsters were there as well though they fell swiftly to their weapons.

"I never did catch your name." said Ragna as they cleared the second room.

"It's Sodia." The knight replied, sheathing her sword.

"Funny, I actually didn't think I'd actually end up working with someone from the knights. Don't get the wrong idea, but I just heard a bunch of things about them that make me question their usefulness."

"You're not the first to say that." She sighed, shaking her head. "The knights have been working much harder than normal lately and the time we could be spending on actually helping out the common folk are wasted on these little squabbles with nobility. Then there's also the succession crisis as well."

"The what now?"

"It's the Empire at a stalemate trying to find a new leader. It isn't something you'd probably be interested in."

"You're right, it doesn't." Ragna replied as they entered another hallway. "With all those things you've been telling me though, it sounds like you're not very satisfied with your job as a knight."

"I'm not complaining. I'm just a little frustrated, that's all." Sodia murmured as they entered the next room. "I was mistaken about you, Ragna the Bloodedge. I apologize."

"Where did that come from?" he wondered.

Ragna immediately paused, signalling for Sodia to stop as well. He heard footsteps and they were getting steadily closer.

Cautiously moving around a corner, he stepped out into the open, nearly colliding with a rapidly approaching Yuri.

"Ragna?" Estelle called out, moving forward. "Oh thank goodness you're alright!"

"I didn't think I'd find you guys here as well." Ragna answered, taking a quick glance towards the rest of the group. "How goes the search for that monster?"

"Yeah, we had to change plans." Yuri replied, looking up at the ceiling. "Seems like our magistrate has a little monster farm in his basement. Still…" he smirked, looking over from Ragna then to Sodia, "…Ragna, I'd have to question your tastes on where you take your date."

Sodia frowned at the comment, though Ragna seemed less flustered by the suggestion.

"Very funny," Ragna continued, "Now, care to tell me what I've missed so far?"

"Well, we found a kid in this place. The magistrate brought him here because his parents couldn't pay their taxes."

"What?!" Sodia replied, fuming at the thought. "To think that he'd resort to something like this…"

"This is evidence for the rest of the knights, I hope?" Yuri said.

"You should know that solid evidence is required before we can make any accusations. The way things are now, it shouldn't be that hard to find, providing we manage to escape from this place."

"Yeah, try not to worry about that right now. All basements have to lead up somewhere eventually don't they? Now come on, I think it's time we keep looking for a way out."

Everyone nodded their heads as they continued to make their way through the basement. With their group reunited, the threat of the monsters in this place dropped down significantly and it didn't take long before they found a door where the key Yuri found actually unlocked it.

They were surrounded by iron bars, though it seemed it was just a little bit brighter on the other side with a staircase leading up. It reminded Ragna of that prison-like area he had been trapped in just a few hours ago, but this one didn't have any doors to kick down.

"Well, well, what do we have here? More delicious snacks for my pet, it seems." A voice called out to them as an old man stepped down from the stairs.

"So you're Ragou. You've got some pretty disgusting hobbies." Yuri said with a frown.

"Hobbies? Oh, you must mean my basement. Only someone with my refined sensibilities could understand the pleasure I derive from such things." The man replied, twirling his pointed, grey beard. "You're just like those senile old fools on the council. They bored me to death and never let me enjoy myself. It's the privilege of my exalted station to dispel such boredom with the… help of the common people."

"Ragou! How can you say such things and still call yourself a servant of the Empire?!" Estelle spoke out, stepping forwards with Sodia right beside her.

"What? You… but that's impossible!" the old man replied, apparently surprised by Estelle's appearance in this place.

"I've had enough of this." Ragna murmured, prying one of the iron bars open with the grip of his left hand, before switching to his sword and smashed through the rest of the bars, the impact sending Ragou flying backwards.

"S-Stay back! W-What do you intend to do?!" Ragou continued, crawling back from the approaching Ragna. "Someone! Arrest these intruders!" he called out, getting up as he started to run away.

"We'll have enemies all over the place if we don't hurry up and finish what we came to do." Yuri said. Almost immediately, a glowing ring of aer began to appear around Rita as she readied a spell. "Hold it."

"What?" the girl replied. "Don't we need to create an emergency for the knights to respond to?"

"We already have a knight here but first we need some evidence." Yuri replied, looking at Sodia who nodded in agreement.

"We've got to find the blastia that controls the weather." Said Estelle.

It didn't take long to actually find what they were looking for. No sooner had the group made their way up the steps that they found themselves confronted with a massive piece of technology in front of them. The aer at the bottom of the pillar-like structure glowed blue and its very core glowed with the same color.

"That's a blastia?" Ragna wondered, turning briefly to his left as Rita made her way up another set of stairs to investigate it.

"This is just what we need for evidence." Estelle said, looking up at the mage. "Rita, shouldn't you finish that later?"

"Just a bit more… I just need to check a few more things."

"You can have Flynn give you a look at it after we're done. Let's get busy with our 'emergency.'" Said Yuri.

"I'd say it's a good idea to have her take a look at it now." Sodia said, Yuri turning towards her soon after she said that. "I may not look like it, but I am at the same rank as Lieutenant Flynn right now. I say she has the authority she needs."

"That's convenient." Yuri nodded.

"Let's just break something that won't be missed." Estelle suggested.

Ragna watched as Karol went straight to one of stone pillars around the blastia and swung his hammer at it. The impact of his blows somehow caused the structure to begin shaking.

"Aah… damn it!" Rita cried out from above them, letting loose a collection of fireballs that impacted various parts of the walls and floor, one of them exploding dangerously close to Karol.

"Jeez! What got into you all of a sudden?!" the boy called out.

"We've gotta give the rest of the knights a good reason to show up, don't we?" Rita answered.

"Really… what a way to behave in someone else's home…" said Ragou's familiar voice.

All eyes instantly turned to him as Sodia, Ragna, and Yuri stepped to the front of the group, weapons drawn. The magistrate had others with him this time, and they were subservient to his commands. "The time has come for you to earn your keep." He told them, "I want all of them captured. Whatever happens though, take care not to kill the young lady over there." He looked at Estelle.

Ragou's henchmen stepped forward, their weapons ready as they faced the trio.

"No way… are these guys from the Blood Alliance?" Karol wondered.

"Does it matter?" Ragna replied, his sword clashing with one of their opponent's weapons, sending the man flying from the impact of the blow.

Their attackers were quickly taken care of and Yuri ran towards Rita, who was busy continuing on with casting her spells as she went down the stairs.

"That's enough, we're getting out of here." Yuri told the mage.

"What're you talking about? I'm not finished yet!"

"If we don't leave now, we'll run into Flynn, and I'd rather not deal with that."

"You don't seriously think he'll come that quickly…" Rita continued, catching her words as one of her fireballs was let loose, exploding right above the entrance to the mansion. There, standing directly underneath the arch of the doorway was Flynn and his other assistant, Witcher.

"Magistrate, I don't know what's happened here, but allow us to offer our assistance." The knight said.

"Flynn…" Sodia said, looking up at her superior.

"There, see?" Yuri continued.

"Hmph, he's certainly enthusiastic." The magistrate muttered, adjusting his glasses. No sooner had he finished when one of the large windows leading outside suddenly shattered as a sleek shape made flew into the mansion.

"Whoah!" Karol cried out, "Is that the dragon rider?!"

Flynn was immediately on the move, heading towards the center of the blastia platform. Sodia began to make her way up to join him, though paused as the dragon rider slashed at the blastia core, cracking it.

"You!" Rita shouted, "What the hell do you think you're doing?! How dare you destroy those blastia!"

"There really is a person riding a monster!" Estelle said in amazement, watching the dragon rider circle around the area above them.

"Wait!" Rita cried out, sending another stream of fireballs at this new intruder.

The dragon rider dodged the spell skillfully, pausing just a fair bit above Ragna as the mount opened its mouth, letting loose an intense stream of flames, splitting both floors in two with a wall of fire. The blastia crackled with electricity, ready to explode at any moment.

"Prepare my ship!" Ragna heard the magistrate call out somewhere above them.

"Where do you think you're going?" Yuri replied, making his way up the stairs followed swiftly by Ragna and the others.

Conflicted on whether to stay behind or not, Sodia glanced back at Flynn on the other side of the flames.

"Go on ahead! We'll catch up to you later!" Flynn called out to her.

She nodded her head, following the rest of the group up as well.

* * *

**Outside the mansion:**

With everyone gathered outside, they were prepared to follow Ragou as he began to make his exit from the scene of the crime.

"Argh, what the hell?! Who rides a monster like that?!" Rita continued, apparently still unable to get the image of the dragon rider out of her mind.

"That really was the dragon rider wasn't it?" Karol said.

"Dragon rider? More like dragon freak! Hurting my blastia like that!"

"Anyway," Estelle interrupted, "Why do you think someone would go around destroying blastia?"

"That's a good question," said Yuri, "I'd like to sit down and pick that dragon rider's brain sometime."

"As if you could have a normal conversation with someone like that." Rita muttered.

"Well, whatever." Yuri continued, looking down at the boy from earlier who continued to follow them. "Do you think you can go home by yourself?" he asked.

"You're going to get that bad Ragou person aren't you?"

"Yeah, we want to hurry."

"It's okay, I can go home by myself." The boy nodded as he ran back away from the mansion.

Ragna turned around, his gaze focusing on Estelle and asked, "What's wrong?"

"I still can't believe the magistrate could do such terrible things." She replied.

"We can talk about this later. Ragou could be escaping on his ship at any time." Sodia said, running towards the docks behind the mansion with everyone following soon after. It wasn't a moment too soon either as the targetted ship was already moving, and increasing in speed.

Seeing everyone begin to jump on board, Ragna did the same, clearing the railing in one bound as they landed on the deck. All around them were various wooden chests, filled to the brim with strange-looking orbs.

"These are all blastia cores!" Rita said, leaning down to take a look.

"Why are there so many? And they're all just cores." Karol looked in as well.

"I have no idea. We don't even have this many at the laboratory!"

"Could this be connected to the core thief?" Estelle wondered.

"Could be." Yuri murmured.

"But I thought the one behind everything was a huge guy with one eye. That doesn't fit Ragou at all." Karol nodded, "Then again, it might be a stretch of a fit to say…" his eyes wandered over to Ragna.

"I am not a huge guy!" Ragna replied as everyone's attentions suddenly turned towards him.

"Sorry, it's just a thought." Karol grinned.

Before any more comments could be made, Repede turned, growling at three approaching figures. They each wielded a cruel-looking knife, and they didn't seem to be in any mood to talk.

"I knew it. These guys are with the Blood Alliance. They're one of the five Master Guilds." Karol said, his voice turning gravely serious.

The three opponents attacked as one, though Ragna reacted swiftly, placing himself in front of the group and brought his sword up from the ground.

"Dead Spike!" he shouted, a wave of darkness suddenly erupting from the ground. Unlike the other attacks that Sodia encountered when they last fought at Halure, a large mouth lined with teeth could be clearly seen in its outline, scattering the three attackers as they jumped off the ship to get away.

"What was that?" Karol wondered as Ragna turned towards the captain's cabin. It's time they faced whoever it was that was leading this operation.

Yuri ran over to the side of the doorway as Karol went up to pick the lock.

"Out of my way!"

The door suddenly slammed wide open, knocking Karol back as a large and imposing figure went through the doorway.

"Hah! Was that spineless worm, Ragou, running from a bunch of kids?" the figure said, looking down at them with contempt.

He was definitely large, and his right eye had a scar over it that forced it closed. Ragna narrowed his own working eye…

"One-eyed giant… so you're the one getting people to bring all these cores?" Yuri said from behind the man, his sword drawn.

"Maybe I am…" the man said, a large sword appearing in his hand as he struck at Yuri with a speed that didn't seem to fit someone of his size. Yuri flipped away, a near miss considering how quick the attack was.

Ragna decided to press on the advantage, slashing down with his sword to keep the pressure up, though it was blocked easily with one hand. Much like Ragna, this one-eyed giant also wielded a blade as massive… if not more so than Ragna's own weapon. Ragna was forced to jump back, making sure to keep his composure.

"You're quick," The giant said, "And you two have got guts. Wish I had you in my guild."

"I doubt it." Ragna replied.

"But it's pushy guys like you I have to watch out for. Upsets the harmony of the guild, see? Nothing personal…"

"Barbos, what are you waiting for? Dispose of these brats." A voice called out from somewhere to the right side behind the giant.

"I did all the work you paid me for! Besides, there's a pretty little knight here already. I'd rather not have her friends following me around." The man replied, turning around and made his way towards an escape boat. "Next time we meet, you kids won't be getting off so easy."

"Wait! He's still inside…!" Ragou called out, "Damn! Zagi, we'll leave the rest to you!" the magistrate continued, joining Barbos on the escape boat as the rope was cut.

Someone began to approach from the shadows, Ragna tensing the grip on his weapon as he waited for their enemies' next move.

"Who is it? Who do I get to kill this time…?" the familiar voice of a pink-haired man said eagerly as he revealed himself in front of the cabin door.

"Not this guy again." Ragna muttered.

"You're the one from the castle!" Estelle pointed out, Sodia turning her head towards Estelle as if realizing something before her attention went back to the deranged-looking man.

"I've heard rumours that there was an assassin sent to the castle. I don't suppose this is him?" asked Sodia.

"You got it." Said Yuri, "This guy was looking for Flynn, last I checked. He'd probably be happy knowing that Flynn's second-in-command is facing him now."

"Not a smart thing to say, Yuri." Ragna replied harshly, observing Zagi's gaze as it focused on Sodia, expression almost delighted.

The ship was suddenly rocked by an explosion and everyone nearly lost their balance as the wood underneath them moved in the strain. Zagi was affected as well, though it seemed to agitate him further.

"My blade… it aches to kill… I've got to kill something!" he shouted as he suddenly lunged at Sodia.

He evaded the man and moved to the side, Zagi's twin blades colliding with the ship's engine blastia, causing it to emit a low, rumbling noise.

What happened next was quite simply, a large ball of violence.

Zagi's weapons clashed with Sodia's single sword before he pushed away, sending himself into the air before suddenly dropping in altitude, ready to renew his attack.

Ragna saw through that, rushing over to Sodia's side and jumped up to the man, grabbing him by his shirt before suddenly kicking him towards the cabin wall.

"Gauntlet Hades!" Ragna shouted, a trail of darkness following his feet as he spun in mid-air, letting his foot collide with Zagi as he fell.

"Destruction Field!" Yuri called out, bringing his sword down on Zagi as the man got back up. The blade nearly found its mark, but Zagi moved his hand up, His blade sliding against Yuri's own to succeed with a glancing blow.

"You think you can kill me? Go ahead, try it!" Zagi continued, slicing at Yuri with a quick spin of his blades. Though Yuri parried the blow, he was forced to step back to give himself room to move.

Zagi moved to the left, just as the ground around him exploded, courtesy of Rita's fireball spell. He rushed for Sodia again, ducking under Repede's lunge from the side.

Ready for Zagi this time, Sodia allowed him to strike at an opening she herself provided, dangerously close to her neck. He performed as expected, slicing at the exposed area before she rushed forward, catching Zagi by surprise. One of her hands let go of her blade, forming into a fist as she simply punched the man straight in the face.

Reeling at the impact, Zagi held on to his cheek, given little time before Sodia was on him with the slash of a sword. Still slightly disoriented, Zagi barely had enough time to dodge, giving his chest a shallow wound.

"You dare…." He glared at Sodia, eyes filled with hate as he planned another move.

"Azure Edge!" Yuri shouted, a sudden blast of wind knocking Zagi off balance and into Ragna's field of attack.

"Inferno Divider!" Ragna called out, bringing his blade up as if to slice Zagi in two. Unfortunately, the man recovered too early, leaping away from Ragna. With Ragna still beginning to fall from the air, all he could do was hold his blade up to defend himself.

"Cyclone Shot!" Zagi shouted, turning his body into a projectile aimed at Ragna. They collided in mid-air, the impact causing the white-haired man to fall off the edge of the ship.

"Ragna!" Estelle called out, genuinely worried.

Another explosion rocked the ship, this time flames were beginning to run down its length, some surrounding Zagi.

"Graaah! That hurts!" Zagi said, one hand going back up to his bloody cheek again.

Sodia began to approach again, her sword ready to finish him off as her eyes narrowed.

"Heheheh…." Zagi chuckled, finally blowing over into an insane laugh, "You're tough! Yes tough! You're definitely tough! I certainly won't forget that!" he pointed at Sodia. "I'm going to kill you! Gonna carve you into little pieces! Don't move a muscle!"

Before he could do anything else though, another explosion happened, right where Zagi is standing. The impact caused him to go flying off the deck of the ship and into the sea some distance away.

Sodia shielded her face from the heat, unsure of how to deal with the fact that someone just put her in his 'to-kill' list. She did not intend to be the target of an assassination attempt.

The ship tilted slightly to the side as the group felt themselves being drawn down.

"What? It's sinking!" Karol cried out.

"Everyone into the water!" Yuri ordered.

A cough was heard within the captain's cabin and Sodia turned her head to listen.

"Is anyone there?" the voice called out.

"That voice…" Sodia murmured, running forwards into the burning cabin.

"Hurry up there!" Yuri called out, not quite sure whether Sodia could hear him or not before everyone else was forced to abandon the ship. They jumped into the water though thankfully, there was enough debris for everyone to grab onto and float.

They swam away from the remains of the ship as it tilted over, sinking even deeper into the ocean.

"What'd I miss?" Ragna muttered as he swam up beside them.

"Not much actually. Glad you're still among the living." Yuri replied.

"Yeah well, I didn't think that the ocean water would be this salty." Was Ragna's response. Come to think of it, he had never been to any natural ocean before had he? The elevation that he was always used to had always been so high up…

"Everbody okay?" Karol wondered.

"I am, but…" Estelle paused, searching for signs of Sodia. "Where…?"

"Sodia's not with us?" Ragna frowned, looking back at the remains of the ship.

He was just about ready to swim back and dive underwater before a splash and a gasp of air caught his attention.

"Geez, you had me worried there for a bit." Ragna looked at Sodia.

"I had to remove my armor to prevent myself from sinking." She replied, trying to catch her breath. She had someone in her arms though, a blonde-haired unconscious young man.

"Who's that?" Rita wondered.

"Ioder…!" Estelle replied with a surprised look.

"What, you know him?" Rita asked.

Karol looked around, breathing out a sigh of relief as he spotted a ship in the distance.

"Look, a boat! We're saved!" he pointed out, as he waved his hands at them. "Heeeeey! Over heeeere!"

As the ship approached, Ragna spotted Flynn's familiar figure to the side overlooking them. He certainly took his time.

"It looks like everyone made it through unharmed." He called out to the crew as the ship slowed down. As he surveyed them though, the expression on his face turned to one of shock, much like the same one that Estelle had when Sodia surfaced with the one she rescued. "Master Ioder! Wait, I'll pull you out! Someone give me a hand!"


End file.
